Paper tubes play an integral role in everyday life, dispensing toilet paper and paper towels.
But imagine making buildings out of cardboard tubes, winning awards for it and becoming a world-renowned architect in the process.
Shigeru Ban has done this. The man, who spoke to a sold-out crowd in Columbia 150 Thursday night, has found numerous architectural applications for these tubes, using them to build buildings and a prominent career.
But he sees the environment benefiting most: Not only do the tubes come from recycled materials, but they can also be dismantled and either reused or recycled.
When it came time for the Ecological Design Center to choose an opening speaker for the 12th-annual Holistic Opportunities for Planet Earth Sustainability conference, HOPES director Danny Schaible said Ban came immediately to mind because his unique design philosophy fits well with this year’s theme of Permanence/Impermanence.
The 49-year-old Ban last night opened this year’s installment of HOPES. He presented a slide show to emphasize the openness and fluidity of his work.
Ban told the audience he began working with paper because he could not afford steel, and the environmental benefits were clear.
“At that time, nobody spoke ecological design, sustainability or recycling,” Ban said. Ban added that he does not always like being lumped in with green architects because his work tries to accomplish many nontraditional goals.
That break from tradition starts with the tubes. Only once Ban discovered he could vary the length and thickness of the tubes did he realize their potential as load-bearing structures, he said.
In addition to his most prominent projects – the Japan Pavilion at the 2000 Expo in Hanover, Germany and an installation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York – Ban has worked on several designs for relief housing that have been used in Rwanda, Japan, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Ban’s design philosophy has won him numerous awards, including honorary fellowships and two World Architecture Awards. He was also named the best young architect in 1997 by the Japanese Institute of Architects.
“He’s the biggest name we’ve ever had,” Schaible said.
“Ultimately we got him because we were persistent enough and he agreed with what we were doing,” Schaible said. “We weren’t a corporate entity, just a bunch of committed students, so I think we charmed him into it.”
Ban only requested the EDC cover his airfare, forgoing the significant honorarium he could have demanded, Schaible said.
Schaible said HOPES has a lot to offer beyond Ban, including a number of other innovative and influential speakers, panel discussions on the future of ecological design, workshops on sustainability, a professional showcase, a green business expo and art from local and student artists inspired by “permanence and impermanence.”
HOPES is open to the public and is free for students and faculty. Go to hopes.uoregon.edu for more information about the conference.