Japanese architect creates a house of paper and paperboard

Modern architects increasingly began to blindly chase fashion. Some people are addicted to the horizontal lines, the other - the waves, attracted by the idea of ​​third formless, abstract buildings. According to the winner of the Pritzker Prize, the world-famous Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, the only way for the architect not to succumb to the banal influence of fashion - look for new approaches to the design of structures and new materials .... His unique Ban makes home made of cardboard ...

Center Pompidou in Metz (France). /Foto:archi.ru

He liked the smell of wood ...

Shigeru was born in 1957 in the family of an employee of the company "Toyota" and a fashion designer, but he was a child has decided what would become an architect. However, when they worked at home builders, he still had no idea that there is such a profession as an architect - simply admired the fact that these people are doing. He liked the smell of wood, he picked up the chips used and the bars, and then trying to make them into something himself. Model your first home Shigeru gathered when I was in 10th grade ...

He is now recognized as not only the best architect in Japan, but also one of the greatest architects in the world. Among his extravagant work - cardboard Catholic Church in the Japanese city of Kobe, made of paper pedestrian bridge across the river Gardon in the south of France (his paper-plastic rungs made from recycled recycled) paper concert hall in Italy, School of cardboard tubes in China and more many, many such projects.

Paper bridge in France. /interior.ru

Ban has repeatedly stressed that the works not for money or recognition of the world, but first and foremost for the people: "Some well-known architects, achieving fame, no longer build houses. After all, they do not bring much income. I do not agree with them. Architects, whom I respect (eg, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto) never ceased to build housing for the people, and I also never lose my interest in this direction. "

The hotel, designed by Shigeru Ban.

The architect for disadvantaged

The most famous and respected Shigeru Ban has won as an architect of buildings for refugees, victims of natural disasters. Rwanda, Haiti, Ecuador, China, Japan, native - almost anywhere where there are refugees, the real magic wand become cardboard tube Shigeru Ban. On this basis he builds a simple design that is cheap, easy, very quickly assembled and then can be reused - in another part of the globe.

Accommodation for refugees. Japan, 2018. /Foto:shigerubanarchitects.com

Creating homes for the refugees, the architect is guided solely by the demands that come from the affected country. And the conditions are very specific. For example, erecting shelters for the victims of the genocide in Rwanda, Ban tried to obtain the maximum use of the material, because it has been limited in the budget ($ 50 per household). In addition, developing the project, he realized that if the housing for refugees is too smart, a person would not be motivated someday return and rebuild their own house, and it is wrong.

The cardboard tube, on which it builds prefabricated structures. /Foto:allamericansthings.com

Working on the housing for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011, Ban was faced with another interesting nuance. On the one hand, the refugees wanted to in their temporary homes had the opportunity to retire, on the other - the government did not approve too enclosed spaces, because it was necessary to carry out on the affected control (for example, to make sure that they did not drink, was not theft, and so on. ).. The architect found an interesting way out: walls made of translucent fabric.

Preparation for the construction of "cell" area of ​​4 square meters for the recent flood victims in Japan. Manufacturing columns. /Foto:allamericansthings.com

In the past year for their current projects for refugees architect awarded the Prize named after Mother Teresa.

Paper kindergarten in Sichuan (China). /Foto:shigerubanarchitects.com

Paper and cardboard - a long time

Architect constantly hears from skeptics the same question: "Do not get wet cardboard structure in the rain?" "Not at all, - he says confidently. As an example, Ban leads the church built after the disaster in New Zealand. Her huge cardboard tubes (600 mm in diameter) are very durable, they are protected from the top roof made of polycarbonate, and the floor in the building - made of concrete.

Cardboard temple in New Zealand. /Foto:interior.ru

In fairness it should be noted that once one of its European buildings due to record heavy snowfall hit the roof, however, such force majeure cases worldwide and conventional (not paper) houses.

The architect did not consider his monumental projects from the cardboard and paper temporary. Moreover, the success and durability of a building, according to Pang, determined not by the material from which it was created.

"Architecture should not be purely commercial. If a building is built only for the sake of profit - even if it is built in concrete - in fact this is a temporary architecture - he argues. - In the end, it will be some other developer and try to get around you, destroying your project and build your. And in this case it can be called temporary concrete material. However, if you create designs that people will love, then no matter from what made the building, they will be saved.

Few people know that building a temporary pavilion cultural center "Garage" 2012 project Shigeru Ban has been built in Moscow. The columns are made of cardboard, lacquered. /Foto:shigerubanarchitects.com

Ban - the author not only paper projects. It works with concrete, and metal, and wood. However, four years ago, the prestigious Pritzker Prize, he received it for the creation of their innovative designs of paper. "This award is for me - first of all, the motivation to continue working in the same direction and proof that the house of the paper is very necessary to people and they are the future, - he explained."