Experiencing Architecture With a New Depth.......: paper architecture- shigeru ban

Shigeru ban and his usage of paper as a building material intrested me a lot to see more of his projects and how he uses it in architecture.The japan pavillion expo 2000 in hannover, germany was one of his first experimantal projects with paper.

'environment' was the hannover expo's theme and the concept of the japan pavilion was to create a structure whose materials could be recycled when it was dismantled.ban designed a curvy paper tunnel supported by a matrix of recycled paper tubes, to make the construction as low-tech as
possible, the joints were affixed with tape.unfortunately, the structural form needed further re-inforcement in order to gain legal approval in germany.

while ban had originally envisioned a purely paper tube structure, the german building authorities insisted on the addition of a wooden structure.the paper tubes were laid out flat on a temporary scaffold used to push the paper grid into the final shape over 3 weeks.the pre-curved timber structure was then lifted into position and connected.the temporary monument did not end up in the hannover dump.it is covered with a specially designed, recyclable paper membrane roof. PVC is the most common substance for tent-like structures,especially in europe. however, because it emits dioxins when burned,shigeru ban came up with his own water resistant and fire retardant paper roofing, which is also light penetrating.Since the structure was temporary for the foundation he used wooden boxes with sand.the structural paper tubes were bought and recycled by a german paper tube company.honeycomb board has been used as partitions for the interior.the pavilion consisted of an approach zone, an exhibition space 72m long, 15.5m high, and 35m span at its widest point, and administrative offices.

http://vimeo.com/36366065

http://www.allisonrozwat.com/#A-Study-Shigeru-Ban-s-Japanese-Pavilion