Shigeru Ban - the architect and his works

Centre Pompidou-Metz

Shigeru Ban, one of the most reliable and trustworthy architects, especially for vulnerable people in
devastated areas, civil war countries with refugees, builds remarkable architecture.  Easy and quick to build with unique materials such as paper tubes, which are incredibly strong beyond our imagination as well as reusable and easy to order anywhere in the world.  Whenever and wherever a big earthquake occurs, for example, he always rushes to the disaster area to construct shelters.  Ban was the first architect to claim the importance of ensuring privacy for refugees in camps or disaster evacuation facilities.

Honored as a Pritzker Prize winner, Ban was born in Tokyo in 1957, and had a youthful dream to play rugby at Waseda University.  However, after a disastrous defeat in an important match, he shifted his attention to his second interest, architecture.

La Seine Musicale

As soon as he graduated from high school, Ban went to the US and studied architecture at Cooper Union in New York, where internationally acclaimed architects, such as Le Corbusier and Bauhaus, particularly Alvar Aalto, the Scandinavian sage, had a huge impact on his ideas.  Their distinctive and sophisticated works inspired him to source paper tubes, his signature construction material for refugee shelters.

Not only those convenient houses, Ban designed many breathtakingly beautiful buildings, including the Centre Pompidou - Metz, La Seine Musicale, Toyota City Museum.

On December 4th, the Shimose Museum in Hiroshima, designed by Ban, was announced by UNESCO at the Prix Versailles 2024 as the World’s Most Beautiful Museum. 

Shimose Museum

Currently, over 30 projects, including the Noto disaster shelters as well as EXPO 2025 Osaka, have been directed by Shigeru Ban, the sleepless architect.