Web of Resilience: An Immersive Journey with the Regenerative Design Studio

Building upon the pilot version of the Future Dynamic Program started in 2022 by FabCafe Taipei, Loftwork Taiwan, and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) , the program was expanded from just a nine week program to consist of four learning modules spanning across three academic semesters in 2023 and 2024. The Future Dynamic Program aims to provide more opportunities for students to engage with practitioners and companies in addressing emerging social challenges in Asia. 

Atelier Future, an advocate within the NCKU campus, emphasized the concept of “Peer To Peer Learning” during their collaboration with Loftwork last year. This learning approach encourages students not only to seek personal accomplishments but also to actively provide feedback to their peers, nurturing a collaborative spirit. 

Leslie (Atelier Future): Since the inception of this project, Atelier Future and Loftwork Taiwan have been working collaboratively to improve the program’s planning, project management system, and implementation.  While there’s a focus on enrollment numbers due to the academic framework, this year we’re more content-driven, eager to pave new paths with our students.

Tim (Loftwork Taiwan):  It’s like we’re nurturing seeds. Even if the course ends, the students’ vitality will continue to grow.

Leslie (Atelier Future): In our daily lives, we often get caught up in mundane roles, which can limit us and make our thinking more rigid. The uniqueness of the Future Dynamic Program is the sudden immersion into unfamiliar surroundings; by the time you’re trying to get your bearings, you’re already on the journey.

Tim (Loftwork Taiwan): Last year’s program was just nine weeks long. With three terms this year, I believe we can offer a more systematic experience. It’s not just about playing predefined roles; it’s about exploring and expanding one’s uncharted potential.

Previously, the program’s approach was to set goals before executing plans. However, this year, we encourage participants to spend eighty percent of their time exploring, being lost, and wandering. By interacting with others, participants can toggle between competition and collaboration, realizing there’s more than one answer. The final twenty percent is reserved for refining and readjusting.

In collaboration with Hidakuma, a group established by Loftwork in the Japanese city of Hida to connect local woodworkers to the world, we have organized a five-week “Regenerative Design Studio.” The purpose of the program is to rethink the role of designers in improving the sustainability of the wood manufacturing supply chain. This is a unique opportunity for students to expand their understanding of the forest as a natural resource. Rather than treating wood as a standardized material, this design studio aims to develop a deeper understanding of wood manufacturing, traditional wood craft, and wood as a material at its most natural state. As a design challenge, students are asked to provide design solutions which address at least one of the following issues:

• How to reduce material waste in the standardization process.
• How to better utilize the different parts of the tree which are often discarded in the standardized wood manufacturing process.
• Cradle to Cradle – to think about the circularity of their design. 

As part of the Regenerative Design Studio, the program also invited four researchers who focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting to study how Hidakuma, as a public and private joint venture between the city of Hida, Loftwork (a design and creative company), and Tobimushi (a forestry management company), has gradually realigned the wood manufacturing supply chain and created new local business opportunities. The ESG research team also helped to quantify carbon storage using a new manufacturing and construction approach that utilizes almost every part of lumber to minimize production waste.  

The program invited members of Hidakuma to Tainan to share their challenges and experiences from Hida’s local wood manufacturing industry. Additionally, the program organized a ten day design camp in Hida, allowing students and ESG researchers to immerse themselves in the wood supply chain and tackle design challenges.

Tim (Loftwork Taiwan):  Architecture is not only about the tangible structure of a building. It also needs to take into account the environment, local culture, and business operations. Hence, in our planning with Hidakuma, we emphasized being open-minded, engaging with the surroundings, and exploring the true ‘solution’ with a broader perspective.

Although the objectives for the design students and the researchers are different, the difference in their learning approach enhances each other’s experience. Before the trip, the Hidakuma team had visited NCKU, laying the foundation for mutual understanding. The student and researcher groups learned from each other to bridge the gap between design and scientific research. 

Yuki (Hidakuma, Communication Manager):  My interaction with the students in Taiwan and Hida was very memorable. Although the focus of this studio is based in Hida, I found that people’s passion for sustainability and the natural environment are beyond any borders. I would like to continue to build on this passion and new relationships in the future.

Chikako (Hidakuma, Creative Director focused on forestry):I was impressed by the fluidity in the students’ thinking. I hope this dynamic approach can benefit Taiwan’s forestry industry and emphasize the importance of harmony with nature.

Kosuke (Hidakuma, Creative Director focused on carpentry):  I found a new sense of inspiration in my own work routine from interacting with the students and faculty members during my trip to Tainan and when the NCKU members visited Hida. I look forward to bringing more expert craftsmen from Hida to visit Taiwan and hope to implement more exciting design initiatives in the near future.  

Conventional education focuses on getting the “right” answers. Students are often asked to arrive at an answer as efficiently as possible, and the outlying possibilities found during the learning process are neglected. How we learn does not have to be a one way communication path exerted only from instructors to students. Through the continuous learning approach, people are constantly seeking opportunities to learn from their peers and people with different backgrounds and cultural contexts, where learning becomes cyclical rather than linear. 

The Regenerative Design Studio provides the opportunity for students and researchers to be immersed in a foreign community not just as a tourist, but to have a chance to actively engage with the local stakeholders, businesses, and residents in Hida. We hope that the students can learn to think of design not from a bird’s eye view, but instead when they walk along the street or feel the sunlight and breeze in a forest, they will strive to use their design as medium for making connections between people and the environment.