Shigeru Ban

I'm very pleased that Shigeru Ban won the Pritzger.  I won't go into a rant about winners who didn't deserve the honor or even those who may have deserved it but not as much as him, though a few years ago I had another winner in my sights.

Mr. Ban won my admiration from the first moment that I read about him back in school, when I saw clearly that he was not only a brilliant designer of beautiful space, but a humanitarian. Architects often talk about contributing to the built environment but a lot of times what they mean is that they are designing lovely objects for those that can afford such luxuries.  The recycled paper emergency houses are some of the more beautiful objects that I have seen in recent years. Hats off, Mr. Ban.

Arch Daily has published a few of his known works as well as his most well received humanitarian works.

Nine Bridges Golf Club. Image © Hiroyuki Hirai, via Arch Daily

On a side note, did you know that Shigeru Ban almost went to university to become a rugby player?

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