For over 30 years, Shigeru Ban has been doing architecture work with the simplest materials, including paper and cardboard. These materials allowed Ban to create structures that greatly help people whose lives were changed by natural disasters. His works have been the symbol of hope for people who need to rebuild their lives, spanning continents from China, Japan, Rwanda to Haiti.
According to Tom Pritzker, sponsor of the Pritzker Prize and the president and chairman of the Hyatt Foundation, Ban uses his creativity to produce high-quality designs to respond to extreme situations as a result of devastating natural disasters. “His buildings provide shelter, community centers, and spiritual places for those who have suffered tremendous loss and destruction,” Pritzker said.
“He is a force of nature which is entirely appropriate in the light of his voluntary work for the homeless and dispossessed in areas devastated by natural disasters,” said Lord Palumbo, jury chairman of the award-giving body.
In 1994, Ban proposed to the United Nations to use paper-tube shelters as his response to displacement that occurred during the civil war in Rwanda. A year later, Ban offered a solution of building paper log cabins to address the demand for homes after the Kobe earthquake.
Ban established the Voluntary Architect’s Network in 1995 which helped solve probles in China, Haiti, Turkey and India. Recently, Ban built a cardboard cathedral after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Ban said in an interview, “Receiving this prize is a great honour and with it, I must be careful.” He added, “I must continue to listen to the people I work for, in my private residential commissions and in my disaster relief work. I see this prize as encouragement for me to keep doing what I am doing – not to change what I am doing, but to grow."
