Building buildings with recycled paper? It is not a future and unlikely hypothesis but it is the design philosophy of Shigeru Ban, a famous Japanese architect. For years, the young designer has distinguished himself internationally for his constructions made with recycled paper and cardboard.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Building buildings with the recycled paper? It is not a future and unlikely hypothesis but it is the design philosophy of Shigeru Ban, a famous Japanese architect. For years, the young designer has distinguished himself internationally for his constructions made with recycled paper and cardboard.
Houses, bridges, churches, theaters and schools: all rigorously built, giving new life to cellulose. But how does it accomplish Shingeru Ban its constructions? Very simple. It wraps, obviously with gods natural adhesives, around aluminum tubes recycled paper and cardboard. Once the paper has dried, the aluminum tube is removed and that's it. To make everything waterproof, treat the resulting paper columns with a special wax. With the same procedure, Shigeru Ban he also made pieces of design.
A master of lightness and sustainability, Shigeru Ban not only stood in stark contrast to the modern hi-tech architecture, but it has also been able to establish itself for large-scale design works. In fact, he owes his popularity to the cheap and quick-to-assemble houses that he designed and built for the Kobe earthquake victims, using tubes made of recycled paper as a construction material. On an international level, with one of his projects, he participated in the reconstruction of the World Trade Center di New York.
Among his other works we must certainly remember: the Library of poet (1991), the Paper House (1995), the Paper Church (2005), the Paper Dome, the Paper Arch for the MOMA in New York, the Paper Bridge.
Francesca Mancuso
