shigeru ban: paper loghouse:

"in june 1995, a great number of people were still

forced to live in shabby tents in parks nearby their

destroyed houses even six month after the earthquake

in kobe. ban's solution was a cheap and simple structure

that could be build by anyone.

the foundation was made of sand-filled beer cases,

the walls of paper tubes and the ceiling and roof of tent

material. the roof and the ceiling were kept separate in

summer to allow air to circulate and closed in winter to

retain warm air. they were easy to recycle after use,

easy to transport, easy to store and the paper tubes

could be made on site.

'the good thing about paper tubes is that they are readily

available in various thickness and diameters.

the weight they can support depends on these two things.

theoretically, I can make buildings a few stories high,

but I haven‘t yet been given the opportunity,’ says ban.

shigeru ban is a pioneer of paper tube structures (PTS),

he investigated the substance and found that not only

could recycled cardboard be molded into load-bearing

columns, bent into beautiful trusses and quickly assembled,

but it could also be made waterproof and fire resistant.

in the space between the paper tubes, self-adhesive

waterproof sponge tape was applied to both sides."