Shigeru Ban: “Even an emergency shelter has to be beautiful”

I talked with Shigeru Ban about disaster relief projects, emergency architecture and paper as a building material.  Shigeru Ban is a Japanese, Pritzker-winning architect with world-wide experience and recognition. He was born in Tokyo and after studying architecture in Los Angeles and in Cooper Union School in New York, he opened his office in Tokyo, then in Paris and New York. He has designed projects worldwide from private houses, exhibitions, pavilions to offices or large scale museums. He is known for his innovative work with paper as a building material, particularly recycled cardboard tubes used to quickly and efficiently accommodate disaster victims. Societal contribution and humanitarian work is a big part of his profession. His ideas for cheap, flexible, easy to build, durable and safe shelters keep helping the refugees and victims of natural disasters around the world. He has established the NGO Voluntary Architects' Network (VAN) to start disaster relief activities, providing assistance in Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, China, Italy, Haiti, Japan, Ukraine and many more. In this conversation I'm asking him: What are the most crucial aspects when it comes to designing an emergency shelter? What is the main purpose of disaster relief projects? What are the advantages of using paper or cardboard tubes as a building material? How do you perceive temporary and permanence in architecture? What is the goal of Voluntary Architects' Network? How did the Paper Partition System help Ukrainian refugees? Is the contribution to society the biggest value the architect can give? Direct answers, rigid conclusions and a very humble and clear work approach. Enjoy the podcast! More about Ukraine Refugee Assistance Project The New Yorker Article on Ban's Paper Architecture Support the podcast Architektura Powinna Klaudia