HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Prefecture--The "Noah," a spherical-shaped personal evacuation shelter developed here following the March 11 quake and tsunami, is headed for a New York debut before a curious worldwide audience.
HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Prefecture--The "Noah," a spherical-shaped personal evacuation shelter developed here following the March 11 quake and tsunami, is headed for a New York debut before a curious worldwide audience.
The floating shelter will be unveiled at a charity event "Design Saves Lives" on Dec. 7 to benefit Japanese traditional craft artists and designers who suffered from the Great East Japan Earthquake. It will be displayed from December in the lobby of the Museum of Arts and Design near Central Park.
Shoji Tanaka, the 66-year-old architect of the Noah shelter and president of Cosmopower Co., the manufacturer, plans to travel to New York for the debut.
"I want the world to learn about the resolve of the disaster-stricken Japanese to draw on all human wisdom to protect their lives from natural disasters," Tanaka said.
Shipments of the Noah, a four-person evacuation shelter, began in September following the March 11 disasters.
More than 1,000 orders have been placed for the Noah, which drew attention with its unique features, including the spherical shape designed to increase its strength and the structure that allows it to stay afloat in a tsunami.
It aroused especially strong interest in the foreign media, with Reuters and the Associated Press distributing related articles around the globe. New Yorkers are also starting to show their curiosity.
Yoshiko Ebihara, founding director of International Design Network Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that promotes international exchanges through art, proposed inviting the Noah to be showcased at the charity auction.
The Museum of Arts and Design, a co-host of the event, agreed to display the portable evacuation shelter at its museum entrance.