Shigeru Ban, also known as the paper tube architect, is a renowned Japanese architect. After earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture, Ban started his career without any professional experience. His goal did not lie only in completing a beautiful built form but also in considering what happens after the building is demolished.

Each country creates so many pavilions and other public buildings, which within a few years generate a significant amount of industrial waste when gets demolished. Ban wanted to solve this problem using his cardboard paper tubes. According to him, these paper tubes can be made waterproof and fireproof. Buildings made of these paper tubes could be recycled, ensuring environmental justice.

Ban stayed and worked for a few years in Paris. He designed the Pompidou Center in Metz, a very popular museum in Paris. But at this phase of his career, Ban started questioning his duty as an architect. Architects had always been working for the rich and privileged people, designing beautiful monumental buildings so the rich could show off their power and wealth.

What about the underprivileged people, such as those suffering from natural disasters, wars, and other problems? These are the people who need help but can not afford it. This thought drove him to work for those in need, thus beginning Ban’s journey as a disaster relief architect.

In 1994, he first built shelters for the people of Rwanda, Africa, using his recycled paper tubes. Next year, in 1995, in Kobe, Japan, he built shelters for Vietnamese refugees. After this, his journey as a social worker never stopped. He worked for multiple countries’ communities suffering from natural and other disasters. All these works were completed with funding from him and his students, collected by him and his team. For his service to society, he won the Pritzker Prize in 2014.