Shigeru Ban gets candid about the future of architecture

the swatch hq in ginza, tokyo by Shigeru Ban Architects — Nicolas G. Hayek Center in Ginza

(Image credit: Hiroyuki Hirai)

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Catching up with Shigeru Ban

You might expect Shigeru Ban to be a fascinating speaker – the Pritzker prize-winning Japanese architecture master has been working on his own, experimental designs straight out of university in the early 1980s, and is still going strong in the seventh decade of his life. Over the years, Ban perfected building with paper, while experimenting with bamboo and developing a rich portfolio of pro bono work for disaster relief architecture.

What you might, perhaps, not expect is that he is also funny. Speaking to a packed auditorium at the Royal Geographical Society in London earlier this week for the RIBA + LKE Ozolins Lecture 2026, Ban charmed the audience, taking them on a whistle-stop journey across his career, from his more 'conventional' projects, high-profile museum commissions and well-known designs, such as a series of private homes (including Paper House, the first building made of paper to be granted planning permission in Japan) to cultural destinations such as the Centre Pompidou-Metz.

He touched on moments of his career that proved turning points with humour and affection – he smiled remembering the client representative who requested a giraffe in the Nicolas G. Hayek Center, the headquarters of the Swatch Group, in the middle of Tokyo, after having seen the outline of one in Ban's development phase drawings (it was there to showcase the height of the ceiling). He ended up creating a timber giraffe sculpture to satisfy his client for the opening.

paper house by Shigeru Ban Architects — Paper House

This was not the only time he experimented with different spatial formats or materials. Ban has famously spearheaded paper architecture – in particular, building using strong paper tubes, initially inspired by the organic modernism of Finnish architecture master Alvar Aalto and a strong desire to be mindful of the environment and avoid waste. This method has subsequently been used in both private commissions and his disaster relief efforts with consistent success. He has also worked with shipping containers (at a time when few others did–his Nomadic Museum in New York from 2005 is an example), timber, carbon fibre and bamboo.

Christchurch cathedral by Shigeru Ban Architects — Christchurch's Cardboard Cathedral

Through his designs, Ban challenges ideas of temporary building, as many of these projects end up far outliving their predicted life expectancy. 'Even a building made of paper can be permanent if people love it,' he says. 'That is my definition of what is permanent or temporary.'

He probably only half-jokes that the local priest thought he was crazy when he proposed building a church out of paper in 1995 after the existing Kobe community building was destroyed by fire, following an earthquake. Even so, he did just that, and that paper church remained in use for a whole 10 years.

Tsunami Reconstruction Project in Kirinda Sri Lanka by Shigeru Ban Architects — Tsunami Reconstruction Project in Kirinda, Sri Lanka

He proposed creating privacy screens to offer spatial separation between different families housed within a single space in emergency shelters after the East Japan earthquake of 2011 in Japan, because 'privacy is a human right,' he emphasises. His paper and fabric partitions proved hugely popular. He is now working on Ukraine's first hospital out of timber, after donating time, labour and equipment to support local communities during the ongoing war in the country. His first disaster shelter designs were used by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda during the region's 1995 genocide, and he has never stopped working in the field since, completing such projects from Turkey to Sri Lanka and beyond.

Paper Partition System 4 (PPS4) after the West Japan flood by Shigeru Ban Architects — Paper Partition System 4 (PPS4) - West Japan flood

'I was always hoping to use my knowledge to help the wider public, not just the privileged,' he recalls of his early years in architecture, and it is a statement he still stands by.

Paper Partition System 4 (PPS4) by Shigeru Ban Architects — Paper Partition System 4 (PPS4) - West Japan flood

Catching up with Shigeru Ban

We caught up with Shigeru Ban after his lecture to find out more about his current experimentations, what's on his plate and his plans for the future.

Lviv Hospital by Shigeru Ban Architects — Lviv Hospital

Wallpaper*: Your career has always included a lot of experimentation. What excites you today?

Shigeru Ban: I showed today [at the lecture] a project using carbon fibre, [which is a good example of what I am looking at]. So, I'm not only using natural materials in my work, but I'm also interested in this type of high-tech material because there are special characteristics to each material. Bamboo is another example. As you know, there are many architects in Colombia and Indonesia working with bamboo; also, Neil Thomas works with engineered bamboo. But buildings like these can be possible only in a country that doesn't have very strict regulations in terms of the use of the material, because bamboo is such a weak material. When bamboo is exposed to the sun, it cracks very easily, but also its diameter and wall thickness can be very different, so it's very difficult to apply planning regulations when it comes to safety.

Altdorf Concert Hall by Shigeru Ban Architects — Altdorf Concert Hall

W*: Do you feel like regulations might get in the way of experimenting in architecture?

SB: Well, I know that by testing, we can prove anything. The most difficult thing is [tackling] people's prejudices. But testing things can be your hope.

W*: Do you feel there is enough experimentation in architecture today?

SB: No, these days it's more about form-making.

W*: Is there something that you would like to see the architecture world addressing?

SB: Greenwashing is one thing. It is very popular now because people often say, this or that is sustainable, without really understanding what really is sustainable. They think that if they use natural materials, then a building is sustainable, but it's not.

Terrace House, Vancouver render from the air — Terrace House, Vancouver

W*: What is on your plate right now, what are you working on?

SB: There is the hospital in Ukraine [the first timber hospital in the country], and I am working on a project in Oman that I am really excited about. I am using mud; I am studying existing technologies of how to apply the material.

Shigeru Ban, Simose, Otake, Hiroshima, Japan, 2023 — Simose Art Museum, Hiroshima

W*: You have led a long career that is still going strong. Did you start with a particular vision? What does success look like for you?

SB: Back then, I didn't have a specific goal [of what I wanted to achieve]. I want to develop my own structural system, and I always collaborate with very good structural engineers, including Frei Otto – who was also an architect, of course – and that has trained and educated me. Working with good engineers, even now, for all my timber structures, is important. Those kind collaborations and the training I receive through them is success for me.

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Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).