Pritzker Prize winner and Tokyoite paper-tube architect Shigeru Ban said he will participate in the reconstruction in Nepal, after the earthquake killed more than 8,500 people, and left hundreds of thousands of people without a home.
The Japanese architect, famous for building with recycled cardboard tubes, is also known for post-disaster actions in many countries including Rwanda, Japan, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Haiti and New Zealand. His past relief efforts consisted of designing effective low-cost shelters out of local, cheap materials such as cardboard, wood, metal and plastic. One of his major reconstruction projects is the Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand, re-made of cardboard after the 2011 earthquake.
His action in Nepal will take the same turn. Ban plans to team up with local volunteers and builders to create easily assembled transitional homes out of paper tubes for the survivors. On the long run, he intends to construct permanent buildings with future resilience.
But according to him, houses made of cardboard tubes can also become permanent. The cardboard Cathedral has been open for two years now.
