After the tsunami: a project on design action in Banda Aceh

A project of design action after the Asian Tsunami 2004. An Industrial designer was trying to find out what design can do in real life after a disaster. Going solo without much support, he travelled to Banda Aceh and interacted with the disaster field for nearly two years. He was continuously trying to start a project and work with the community, but it seemed to be almost impossible. There was hardly a response for a start. Later, he participated in a construction of primary schools and housing and helped to oversee this aid construction project. Through the building project he then faced many challenges and learned the complexity of a disaster; including economy, politic, security, and misuse of aid, injustices, and corruption; at the same time still carrying a thought of seeking the identity of design in such condition and how it could function to better situation. Engaging all levels of communities; includes the government, the aid sector, the displaced, and the merchants, he produces a documentation, a video, and a manual of how design and designer can engage with the topic of disaster through live interaction and how common aid, support, and help should be given to function more effectively in case of disaster or other humanitarian purposes. <br>