Pritzker Prize-winning architect, humanitarian, and Cooper Union alumnus Shigeru Ban gives the 2024 The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture YC Foundation Lecture. The talk, “Balancing Architecture Works and Social Contributions,” is free and open to the public and will explore his past and recent works as well as his disaster relief efforts from over the last 30 years. The program is made possible by the YC Foundation, Inc., which supports lectures in architecture at The Cooper Union to inspire the next generation of architects through the experiences and stories of the speakers.  

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Ban, who was born in Tokyo, Japan, founded his practice Shigeru Ban Architects in 1985. Known for his innovative use of recycled materials, he has supported humanitarian efforts around the world, establishing the Voluntary Architects' Network (VAN) to support disaster relief in 1995. That same year, he served as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Notable examples of VAN’s work include the Paper Log House and Paper Church (1995), relief projects for Vietnamese refugees affected by the 1995 Kobe earthquake, and the Paper Partition System (PPS), a simple partition system used in numerous evacuation centers to create privacy and health safety in regions hit by disasters. At the outset of the war in Ukraine, PPS was used to house refugees in Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and France. Ban has also constructed Paper Log Houses in Turkey, Morocco, and Hawaii, and most recently in New Canaan, Connecticut in collaboration with Cooper Union students and faculty as part of a special exhibition at The Glass House, on view through December 15, 2024.   

Other selected works include Centre Pompidou- Metz, Oita Prefecture Art Museum, Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka, Musical Complex of La Seine Musicale, and Swatch Omega Headquarters. Ban has also earned numerous awards including the Mother Teresa Social Justice Award and the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord among others. Currently he is special guest professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology.