The 2014 Pritzker Prize laureate, Shigeru Ban, is renowned for his inventive and resourceful design approach, which he applies not only to his private commissions but also to his extensive humanitarian efforts. For twenty years Ban has travelled to sites of natural and man-made disasters around the world to work with local citizens, volunteers and students to design and construct simple, dignified, low-cost, recyclable shelters and community buildings for the disaster victims. His works, striking in their originality, economy and ingenuity, do not rely on today’s common high-tech solutions. Instead Ban has developed an experimental approach to common materials such as cardboard tubes, shipping containers, bamboo, fabric and paper, employing them in structurally innovative and elegant constructions. 

Shigeru Ban was born in Tokyo in 1957 and established Shigeru Ban Architects in 1985. Today the practice has offices in Tokyo, Paris and New York. His renowned works include the Curtain Wall House, Japan Pavilion Hannover EXPO 2000, Nicolas G. Hayek Center and the Centre Pompidou-Metz. His innovative disaster relief structures range from temporary housing to the Christchurch Temporary Cathedral completed in 2013. Alongside the 2014 Pritzker Prize, Shigeru Ban's work has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture (2005), l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France (2010) and the Auguste Perret Prize (2011). In 2001 Aedes presented the first exhibition of Shigeru Ban's work in Berlin.

Welcome and Introduction