*notcot in design , 20:47

Shigeru Ban- 12.16.05

shigeru.jpgContinuing the story from below, this is the mind blowing studio of architect Shigeru Ban (who designed the Nomadic Museum as well)… this studio is on the TOP of the Pompidou. [ref]

Ok once you have gotten over fantasizing about having that studio… Ban is an architect who’s taken design to so many new levels, and while his style and modernist looks are impressive, i can not get over his incredible use of cardboard — especially his use of it in creating shelters for victims of natural disasters and others in need… His paper log houses have been shipped around the world… paper emergeny tents… even paper churches.

It started 20 years ago when he was designing an exhibition of the work of his hero, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. “I couldn’t afford to use wood like Aalto would,” he explains, “so I looked for some alternative, and paper tubes were all over the studio. When you finish a roll of tracing paper or fax paper, there are always paper tubes left over. They were so strong and so nice, so I kept them. Then I went to the factory where they made them, and I saw they could make any length and any diameter.”

His innovation takes leaps and bounds beyond his use of materials… when the UN lost momentum with his cheap temporary housing, he founded the Voluntary Architects Network, which is helping to build temporary houses in various international disaster zones from Turkey to Sri Lanka.


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