SHIGERU BAN

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Exhibition
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(J)

(*1957)

 

 

 
Presentation
       
 
     
Established in Tokyo since 1985, he has been teaching at Nihon University since 1996. At once an architect, designer, and scenographer, Shigeru Ban is developing an architectural style which tends to harmonise the various relationships found in each of his realisations, whether "architectonic", spatial, social or environmental. The Paper Tube Structure (P.T.S) Ñ those cardboard tubes used as structural supports Ñallow Shigeru Ban to be rid of structural constraints and tensions to the benefit of dynamic, flexible spaces. Shigeru uses this material to create specific premises without, for all that, breaking with architectural tradition. In his various projects, we in fact note certain reminiscences of historical architectural features such as the Greek agora used for the Issey Miyake gallery in Tokyo, in 1994, or the reference to the Moderns in the Paper House and the Furniture House. The reference, however, stops there as the rigid, often quadrangular framework, is totally freed in its elevation. The P.T.S module, used both as a structural and furnishing feature, dissolves the rigidity of the ground plan through sinusoidal compositions rendering the space more flowing. The whole can thus open out on to the environment and participate in it as one of its parts. This poor material, used with virtuosity for luxury projects, was also an effective answer to resolve the housing problems of the Kobe earthquake victims, in 1995.
   
       
       
       
     
         
 
       
 
Exhibition
       
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In my first work, the installation design of the Emilio Ambasz Exhibition, I designed screens of fabric to serve as partitions. The fabric was delivered in rolls with paper cylinder cores (paper tubes). I took many of the paper tubes back to my office. Later, when I was designing the installation for the Alvar Aalto Exhibition, it occurred to me to use the light brown paper tubes still in my office. I visited a paper tube factory. I discovered that the tubes made of recycled paper were inexpensive and could be made in almost any lenght, diameter and thickness. I wondered if they might be usable as structural material in architecture. In 1990 I began to design a multipurpose hall (Odawara Pavilion East Gate). Professor Gengo Matsui kindly agreed to cooperate with me on the work of "paper architecture". There was no precedent anywhere in the world for the use of paper as a structural material, and so we began with experiments on paper tubes as material. The paper-tube structure (PTS) used in the "Paper House" was approved by the Ministry of Construction.
One of my favorite buildings is the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. This was a revolutionary work that achieved complete continuity between inside and outside by means of a totally glazed exterior. However there is no physical continuity as in traditional Japanese residential spaces, where various openable screens exist between inside and outside. The "Curtain Wall House" was formed with an authentic exterior curtain wall. Other works are a response to the "Universal Space" proposed by Mies, that is, the idea of a fluid space generated under a large continuous roof by means of furniture-like cores and partitions.
Up to now I have used paper tubes as columns or framed trusses, but in "Paper Domes" I designed a large frame with arches spanning 28 meters with a rise of 8 meters using paper tubes as a material under axial compressive force. The paper tube arches are now being designed for the Expo 2000 Hannover in Germany.
In this century large numbers of low-cost housing became necessary. Today ethnic and regional conflicts are breaking out all over the world, creating many refugees. In addition, the worldwide problem of the homeless and frequent disasters are producing a significant minority. The way architects serve society, particularly minorities, may be an important factor in determining the character of this era. The UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) commissioned me to develop a paper refugee shelter using paper tubes. After the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake, I served as a volunteer and constructed together with sudents from all over the country "Paper Church"/ community center and "Paper Loghouse"/ temporary shelter on the site of a destroyed church.
Even in disaster areas, as an architect, I want to create beautiful buildings, to move people and to improve people's lives. If I did not feel that way, it would not be possible to create works of architecture and to make a contribution to society at the same time.

   
       
     
     
     
           
     
Paper Loghouse - Kobe, Japon, 1995
   
           
     

By this project, Shigeru Ban answered a very urgent question: To provide decent temporary housing to the victims of the Kobe earthquake, in 1995. The design criteria called for a cheap structure that could be built by anyone and quickly assembled. Ban's solution was to use a foundation of sand-filled beer cases, walls of paper tubes (diameter 108 mm, 4 mm thick), and the ceiling and roof of tent material. With this system there is no need to store anything and like Rwanda, it is possible to make the paper tubes on site. The floor area of 16m2 is the same as that of the UNHCR basic shelter size for Africa. With the thermal properties of the paper tubes, there are being developed as prototypes suitable for many countries. At the Minamikomae Park in Kobe more than 20 units had been built. Not only did the log houses compare favourably with other types of temporary housing in terms of cost and ease and speed of construction but they were easy to recycle after use and easy to store.

   
       
       
       
       
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Paper House - Yamanakako, Japon, 1995
   
           
     

Lined up in an S-shape configuration on a square floor area 10 meters to a side, 110 "paper tubes" (2,7 meters high, 280 mm in diameter and 15 mm thick) define the living areas laid out inside and outside of the resulting composition of curved and straight planes. The project was the first in which paper tubes were authorized to be utilized as structural material in a permanent building. Ten of the paper tubes support the vertical load and the eighty interior paper tubes bear the lateral forces. The large circle surrounded by the eighty paper tubes forms an interior living area with a gallery around it. The living area in the large circle is represented as a universal space with no furnishings other than an isolated kitchen counter, sliding doors, and movable closets. When the perimeter sashes are entirely opened, the horizontal roof supported by the colonnade of paper tubes is visually emphasized and spatial continuity is created between the surrounding gallery space and the outdoor terraces.

   
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Paper Dome - Gifs, Japon, 1998
   
           
     

A large arched roof spanning 27.2 meters, 8 meters in height at the center and covering a space 22.8 meters wide was created. Since paper tubes cannot be curved, the entire arch is divided into eighteen straight paper tubes 1,8 meters long which are connected together by means of laminated wood joints. Horizontal rigidity is achieved by the use of structural plywood instead of bracing. Each panel of plywood is pierced by a circle which is as large as possible without compromising the rigidity, in order to let natural light in through the corrugated polycarbonate panels. The ends of the paper tubes and joints are in full contact to transmit the loads for reducing the bending moment, but there are reinforcing steel tension members and braces provided as a precaution against sudden changes of load.

   
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House of Double-roof - Yamanashi, Japon, 1993
   
           
     

This weekend villa was built on a sloping site overlooking Lake Yamanaka. The double-roof structure was created as a means of accomodating the snow load within a restricted budget without the need for a large structural framework. The upper roof structure is separated from the ceiling and folded steel plates of the minimum allowable dimension were used. The ceiling, not being suspended from the roof, is thereby freed from the deflection margin, and thus the ceiling becomes a roof with minimum live road. In addition, the upper roof provides shelter against direct sunshine in summer. Square-sectioned steel-pipes that are normally used in temporary construction have been selected here as the material for the beams to support the corrugated-iron plated roof. Other structural elements below the roof are built of wood. The rooftop level above the bedroom-bathroom portion is a terrace which provides a view toward the Lake Yamanaka.

   
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Resources
       
 
 
Biography
       
     
Shigeru BAN (1957)
1977 / 1980 - Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles.
1980 / 1982 - Cooper Union School of Architecture, New-York.
1984 - Bachelor of Architecture, Cooper Union.

1985 - Fondation de l'Agence à Tokyo, Japon.
1995 - Consultant du Haut Commissariat aux Réfugiés des Nations-Unies.
Enseignement :
1996 - Université Nihon.
1995 - Université Nationale Yokohama.
1995 / 1993 - Université Tama Art.

Principaux projets et réalisations :
1998 - Paper Dôme, Gifu ; Furniture House #3, Kanagawa ; Ivy Structure House, Tokyo ; Issey Miyake Collection Stage Set Design, Paris .
1997 - Walls-less House, Karuizawa, Nagano ; JR Tazawako Station, Akita ; 9 Square Grid House, Kanagawa ; Forest Hanegi, Tokyo ; Paper Stage Design, Kabukiza Theater, Tokyo, Paper Stage design for Mannojo Nomura, Tokyo.
1996 - Furniture House #2, Fujisawa.
1995 - Paper Church - Paper Structure Tube #8 - Kobe, Hyogo ; Paper Loghouse - Paper Structure Tube #7 - Kobe, Hyogo ; Paper House - Paper Structure Tube #5 - Lake Yamanaka, Yamanashi ; Curtain Wall House, Tokyo ; Furniture House, Lake Yamanaka, Yamanashi.
1994 - House of a dentist, Tokyo ; Paper Gallery, Tokyo.
1993 - House of Double-roof, Lake Yamanaka, Yamanashi ; Factory at Hamura - Dengyosya, Tokyo; Station Gallery, Tokyo.
Expositions récentes :
1998 - Gallery GA, "GA Japan League 98" - "GA House Project 98" ; "Architecture of the year 98" ; JIA Prize for the best young Architect of the year.
1997 - Stool Exhibition 3, Living Design Center, Ozone ; Gallery GA; "GA Japan League 97" ; Resurrection of Topos 3, Hillside Terrace Gallery.
1996 - Paper Church and volunteers, Kenchikuka Club.
   
           
 
Bibliography
       
     
Bibliographie sélective :
1999 - Gallery MA Books 12, " Shigeru Ban, Projects in process to Japanese Pavilion, Expo 2000 Hannover ", Toto Shuppan ; Architecture d'Aujourd'hui (janv.), France ; GA Houses n°59, Japon ; AIT (mars), Allemagne.
1998 - JA n°30, Shinkenchiku-Sha ; " Paper Tube Architecture from Kobe to Rwanda ", Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co. Ltd. ; The Architectural Review (janv.et nov.), Grande-Bretagne ; Domus (juil./août), Italie ; Detail (juil./août), Allemagne ; AV 72 (juil./août), Espagne ; ID (fév.), USA ; Korean Architect (fév.), Corée.
1997 - GG Portfolio, Gustavo Gili ; Abitare (mars et août), Italie ; Form (mai), Suède ; Arquitectura Viva n°52, Espagne ; Monthly Design (mars), Corée.
1996 - Architecture d'Aujourd'hui (sept.) ; The Architectural Review (sept.) ; Detail (août) ; De Architect (juil./août), Hollande ; l'Arca (juil./août), Italie ; ARK (fév./mars), Finlande ; Architecture (oct.), USA ; Ambiante (nov./déc.), Allemagne ; Leonardo (mars), Allemagne.
1995 - The Architectural Review (août) ; Living Architecture n°14, Danemark ; Bauwelt (nov.), Allemagne ; Architecture et Defi Ecologique (oct./nov.), France.
1994 - Abitare (novembre, décembre et) ; l'Arca (déc.) ; Interni (nov.), Italie.
1993 - Metropolis (déc.), USA.
1987 - Abitare Annual 9.