Shigeru Ban began experimenting with paper tubes as a building material in 1985. He didn’t want to throw away the large tubes his drawing paper was rolled on and began testing whether they could be used as building material. The tubes proved to be much stronger than he had expected. They were also easy to waterproof, and since they are industrially produced, actually also easy to fireproof.
With the ambition to create low-cost housing that is simple and quick to assemble, Shigeru Ban has since travelled the world building simple, cheap and demountable locally adapted versions of houses with paper tubes as the primary building material for refugees and victims of natural disasters.
Paper tubes offer a multitude of advantages. They are readily available in most parts of the world, inexpensive, and easy to transport, reuse, and recycle. Crucially, they are also simple to work with—most houses can be completed in a single day. These structures have also proven to be surprisingly durable; for instance, a temporary house in Gujarat is still being used as a local town hall, 25 years after it was first built.
Text: Carl-Johan Liljegren Photo: Hiroyuki Hirai
