It’s not origami or paper craft: Shigeru Ban Architects actually builds functional, habitable buildings using paper as their main construction material. To be specific, they use specially coated paper tubes with various dimensions and thicknesses to suit different-scaled projects. It took lengthy experimentation, precise design and careful planning for these paper tubes to become a better, sustainable material alternative.
Their recent paper tube structure is the Cardbord Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand. After the earthquake which destroyed the original iconic Christchurch Cathedral, the reverend of the church contacted Shigeru Ban and asked about his fee to design a temporary cathedral onsite. Just like his other disaster relief projects, Ban answered that he wouldn’t charge them if the cathedral would be widely used for civic events aside from religious ceremonies.
The A-frame structure is used to reproduce the equilateral triangle-shaped front roof and the isosceles triangle-shaped rear end of the old cathedral, as well as to suit the low-cost construction and the ideal capacity of 700 seats. Prioritizing the use of local products, the paper tubes reinforced by laminated timber are produced in a paper tube factory in Christchurch. Since geometry is decided by the plan and elevations of the original cathedral, there is a gradual change in the angle of each paper tube. In total there are 196 paper tubes with a 15cm gap between each one. When natural sunlight hits the gaps, shadows are created, resulting in different atmospheres depending on the time of day and the season. The old circular rose window on the front of the cathedral was reconfigured into a triangle shape to match the whole façade. The new cathedral was completed in July 2013 and can also be used for events and concerts.
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban began working on disaster relief projects and temporary buildings because he felt discontent with the traditional function of architects to build monuments for the privileged social class. He developed cardboard tube structures for temporary structures like disaster shelters because they are durable, easy to assemble, cheap and widely available. From the initial refugee camp in Rwanda, 1994, he had worked on various disaster relief projects including the Paper Log House in Kobe, L’Aquilla Concert Hall in Italy and Hualin Temporary Elementary School in China. He also created solutions in accordance with existing refugee shelter systems. In Japan, for example, disaster victims are placed in the gymnasium for six months until the temporary housing is ready. To give them much-needed privacy, deemed a luxury in such situations, simple DIY partitions are installed to blur the high density.
Shigeru Ban Architects doesn’t work exclusively on disaster projects. They have an impressively diverse portfolio of residential and commercial projects, and still continue to accept new projects. “I think that I myself ended up building monuments, only this time it was not for the privileged social class, but for people to love it,” Ban said. This flexibility of working with different clients, materials and sites, according to Ban, is also important for developing his acumen as an architect. In fact, aspiring disaster architects must gain prior experience in the general field or they will find it difficult to run a viable architectural practice on disaster sites.
Among these other projects, some clients also requested the use of the signature paper tubes structure. The pavilion inside Hermès Maison at Milan Design Week 2011 is designed like an open house with paper tube columns to exhibit the first contemporary furniture collections designed for Hermès, arranged within to create a livable domestic space. Its special features are the long pieces of paper acting as the roof and woven horizontally across the standing columns to represent a wall. The light from within created a subtle, not quite transparent silhouette of the columns.
Another noteworthy exhibition piece was the Paper Tea House, part of “Kyobai: The Art and Culture of Japan” assembled in London in 2008. Made entirely from rectangular tubes of recycled cardboard, the Paper Tea House is designed for indoor use and features a table, four stools and a waiting area with a bench. This sparks the question of whether there is a future plan for a house entirely made of paper, but Shigeru Ban Architects answered no. They know the limits of paper in that it can never be as structurally sound as wood or steel.
Given the nature of paper, these paper tubes are aimed at temporary structures and buildings. But the durability depends on the purpose, whether they are placed indoors or outdoors, and how long the projects are supposed to last. Sometimes, though, the projects simply exceed expectations. “Even built with mere paper, if it is loved by people, temporary buildings can become permanent,” Ban said. The Paper Church they built in Kobe was used by local people for 10 years before it was disassembled and relocated to a place that needed it after a more recent disaster in Taiwan. The church was also repurposed as a permanent building and remains standing until now.
