Paper Churches & Beer Crate Houses: Architect Shigeru Ban Brings New Meaning to Recycling

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban operates in extremes, creating everything from disaster housing made of beer crates to museums with price tags in the tens of millions of dollars. But whatever the cost, all of his projects have embraced simple materials and natural surroundings. Ten years before winning the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2014, for example, Ban convinced the UN that his recycled-paper tube shelters could house refugees of the Rwandan civil war, a feat that eventually led to his TED talk on emergency shelters—and one that has made a lasting impact on the architecture world.

Here, a crash-course in Ban, from temporary designs that revived devastated places, to destination-worthy museums, and museum-worthy private homes.

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