Pritzker Prize for Shigeru Ban

For the "elegance and inventiveness of his work" and "continuing humanitarian efforts," Shigeru Ban has been named the 38th recipient of the Pritzker Prize, the seventh Japanese architect to be honored with the distinction. In 2000, Time named him as one of the most important innovators in his field, having continued to raise the technical and ethical standards of architecture since 1985, when he opened his architectural office in Tokyo.

Otto Frei said a few years ago that "Shigeru Ban is the future", his structures are technically ingenious and truly poetic. Ban has managed to combine the influence of Hedjuk with Japanese tradition, reinterpreting the sensitivity of traditional Japanese architecture in his own style.

His timeless designs seem to derive primarily from technological research. Building in an innovative manner means detailed research in order to understand the formal and structural potential of each material used, and the sustainable component of his architecture derives from both the choice of materials and the manufacturing process.

His particular interest is to use unconventional structural materials (paper, prefabricated, bamboo, leather, wood) while maintaining the same technical exigency and clear aesthetic vision, both for large projects such as the Pompidou-Metz Center, Tamedia, Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club, and for temporary shelters for victims of natural disasters in Rwanda, Turkey, Haiti, India, China, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and Turkey.

Ban's structures are ephemeral, temporary, with function as the overriding declared purpose. It's not the lifespan of the building that's most important, but the cost, the speed of assembly and subsequent disassembly of the structure, whose elements will of course be recycled.

"I think this distinction came too early for me. Unlike those who have already won the Prize, who have achieved great things, I do not see it as a recognition of my professional achievement, but rather as a way of encouraging myself," said Shigeru Ban. The award ceremony will take place on June 13 at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Details

http://www.pritzkerprize.com