“Shigeru Ban — Architecture and Humanitarian Activities”

The exhibition Shigeru Ban — Architecture and Humanitarian Activities ran from  2 March through 12 May 2013 at Art Tower Mito (1-6-8 Goken-cho, Mito-shi, Ibaraki 310-0063, Japan).

The retrospective exhibition was the first and largest collection of Ban’s work to date and traces his career from his design work in the 1980s through his humanitarian and aid work, to recent projects such as the Tamedia Office Building in Zurich (2013) and the Oita Prefecture Museum of Art (2015).

Born in Tokyo in 1957, Ban has become one of Japan’s most important architects, famous for his style composed of a mixture of Japanese and Western influences. Known for his exploration of building materials and incorporation of structure into design, Ban has won several awards including the Grand Prize of AIJ 2009 for the Nicolas G. Hayek Centre in Ginza, Tokyo and Time Magazine Innovator of the Year in 2001.

A focal point for the exhibition was Ban’s experimentation with paper tubing and temporary structures which led to disaster relief structures that have been employed in Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda and other places around the world. Models of seminal projects such as the Japanese Pavilion at the 2000 World Expo are also on display.

Text written by Shingi Tarirah, a 2011 Daiwa Scholar