Architecture of Pritzker Prize Winner Shigeru Ban

This photo taken on December 30, 2014 shows the front window that incorporates images from Christchurch Cathedral's original rose window in Christchurch's "Cardboard Cathedral", designed by award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.  The structure, which is a temporary replacement for the 1881 Anglican cathedral destroyed in the February, 2011 quake with killed 185 people, is an A-frame building constructed with weather-proofed cardboard tubes.      AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE        (Photo credit should read Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)

This photo taken on December 30, 2014 shows the front window that incorporates images from Christchurch Cathedral's original rose window in Christchurch's "Cardboard Cathedral", designed by award-winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. The structure, which is a temporary replacement for the 1881 Anglican cathedral destroyed in the February, 2011 quake with killed 185 people, is an A-frame building constructed with weather-proofed cardboard tubes. AFP PHOTO / MARTY MELVILLE (Photo credit should read Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)

By Matthew Reitman

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is known for his avant-garde structures and creative use of unconventional materials. Ban, the 2014 Pritzker Prize winner, often builds temporary structures to augment disaster relief efforts. Check out some of his permanent and temporary buildings below.

 

 The Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, USA

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, this three-story gallery has exhibitions on the bottom two floors and a multipurpose space on the top, which opens to an outdoor terrace with mountain views. The cross-hatch timber frame and glass structures provide plenty of natural light.

(Shigeru Ban Architects)
(Shigeru Ban Architects)
Michael Moran Photography Inc.
(Shigeru Ban Architects) (Shigeru Ban Architects)

Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand

Christchurch was close to the epicenter of New Zealand’s 2011 earthquake, during which the eponymous church was destroyed. As a temporary salve for the city’s spirit, a church was constructed out of steel, wood, and polycarbonate; with cardboard tubes used for the the A-frame’s interior. Shigeru Ban included the original stained glass from the old church as the design’s keystone.

(Emma Smales)
Getty Images/Corbis Documentary
(Emma Smales)
Getty Images/Corbis Documentary
(Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
(Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images

Centre Pompidou-Metz in Metz, France

Following the trend of architects who’ve designed museums for mass consumption (see: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim), Ban executed the Centre Pompidou–Metz as both a standalone work of art and functioning epicenter of the city’s art world. Viewpoints of the Metz’s three landmarks lie underneath the wave-like roof and serve as a way to display exhibits to patrons in the plaza outside.

(Shigeru Ban Architects) (Shigeru Ban Architects) (Shigeru Ban Architects) (Shigeru Ban Architects)
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