14 Facts About Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is a Japanese architect, known for his innovative work with paper, particularly recycled cardboard tubes used to quickly and efficiently house disaster victims.

Shigeru Ban was profiled by Time magazine in their projection of 21st-century innovators in the field of architecture and design.

In 2014, Ban was named the 37th recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious prize in modern architecture.

Shigeru Ban studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

From Hejduk, Shigeru Ban gained an interest in "architectonic poetics" or the creation of "three-dimensional poetry".

Shigeru Ban is not interested in the newest materials and techniques, but rather the expression of the concept behind his building.

Shigeru Ban is most famous now for his innovative work with paper and cardboard tubing as a building material.

Shigeru Ban was the first architect in Japan to construct a building primarily out of paper with his paper house, and required special approval for his building to pass Japan's building code.

Shigeru Ban is attracted to using paper because it is low cost, recyclable, low-tech and replaceable.

The last aspect of Shigeru Ban's influences is his humanitarianism and his attraction to ecological architecture.

Shigeru Ban created the Japanese pavilion building at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany in collaboration with the architect Frei Otto and structural engineers Buro Happold.

Shigeru Ban found paper's structural integrity to be much better than expected and noted that it is available all around the world.

Shigeru Ban's design allowed for full recyclability of the Japanese Pavilion, in keeping with Expo 2000's theme of environmental awareness.

In July 2015, Shigeru Ban began a project to rebuild homes for the victims of that year's Nepal earthquake.