CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 6/17/2015

Shigeru Ban to Lecture at the Architectural League

Wednesday, June 17, The Architectural League, New York, presents Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban lecturing on his current work and Humanitarian Architecture.

Above: Cardboard Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand, realized in July 2013. Photograph by Stephen Goodenough.

With a portfolio that spans diverse scales, from refugee housing and other temporary structures, to houses, commercial structures, and cultural facilities, Shigeru Ban’s work is united by structural innovation, creative use of unconventional building materials, and environmental sensitivity. The 2014 winner of the Pritzker Prize, Ban was lauded by the jury for “his respect for the people who inhabit his buildings, whether victims of natural disaster or private clients or the public…always revealed through his thoughtful approach, functional plans, carefully selected appropriate materials, and the richness of the spaces he creates.”

Above: The model for Cardboard Cathedral showing supports inside cardboard tubes. Reproduced from Shigeru Ban: Humanitarian Architecture; photograph by Bridgit Anderson.

Shigeru Ban founded Tokyo-based Shigeru Ban Architects in 1982. The firm has since expanded to New York and Paris. He became a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1995 and founded the NGO Voluntary Architects’ Network in the same year to support disaster relief. Notable projects include: Japan Pavilion, Expo 2000, Hannover; Nomadic Museum, New York; Seikei University Library and Nicolas G Hayek Center, both in Tokyo; Paper Temporary School/Hualin Elementary School, Chengdu; Centre Pompidou-Metz; Container Temporary Housing, Onagawa, Japan; Paper Partition System 4 for Evacuation Facilities, East Japan; Cardboard Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand; Aspen Art Museum; and Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita, Japan.

Above: Facing the Cardboard Cathedral's spectacular window on the entry wall. Photograph reproduced from Humanitarian Architecture

Ban was a professor at Keio University from 2001 to 2008. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada; Honorary Member of the Japan Institute of Architects; le grade commandeur of l’Ordre des Arts at des Letters in France; and recipient of the International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Shigeru Ban has also been recognized internationally for his architectural design and relief efforts. He is a recipient of this year’s World Economic Forum Crystal Award; the Asahi Prize in 2014; and the Arnold Brunner Memorial Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005.

Above: The Cardboard Cathedral at night, glowing through its stained-glass windows and translucent roof. Photograph reproduced from Humanitarian Architecture

Shigeru Ban
“Works and Humanitarian Activities”
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
7:00 p.m.
The Great Hall
The Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street

Tickets are free for League members; $15 for non-members. Members may reserve a ticket by e-mailing: rsvp@archleague.org. Member tickets will be held at the check-in desk; unclaimed tickets will be released fifteen minutes after the start of the program. Non-members may purchase tickets here, beginning June 10 until 4:00 p.m. on June 17. Tickets will also be available at the door, cash only, space permitting.