Tuesday:  Group  06    SAID  127  Arts  &  Society  •  2010    Sam  Carl:  Sustainability  

John  Davis:  Description  of  the  artifact  

Megan  Dziatkowicz:  Production  process  

Ben  Koontz:  About  the  Architect  

Stephanie  Mueller:  Problems  the  item  addresses  

Callie  Svaan:  History    

Michael  Varcarcel:  presentation  

Paper  Log  Houses  designed  by  Shigeru  Ban  

  The  Paper  Log  Houses,  designed  by  Shigeru  Ban,  were  designed  as  part  of  a  relief  

effort  in  Kobe  in  1995.  The  architect  designed  these  houses  to  be  very  cheap,  but  

sturdy  and  able  to  safely  house  people  in  need.  They  are  both  waterproof  and  fire-­‐

resistant,  and  therefore  can  function  as  short-­‐  or  long-­‐term  dwellings.  When  they  

were  first  designed,  they  were  intended  simply  to  replace  the  existing  tents  that  did  

not  provide  very  much  shelter.  Although  people  have  been  attempting  for  years  to  

build  temporary  homes  for  people  in  need  that  are  both  solid  enough  to  live  in,  and  

cheap  to  make  and  assemble,  this  particular  design  is  the  first  of  its  kind.  Because  of  

the  houses  strength  and  low  cost,  the  architect  or  outside  parties  have  not  improved  

on  the  original  design.    

  Shigeru  Ban  is  the  inventor/designer  of  the  paper  log  houses.  He  made  these  

houses  as  a  cheap  solution  to  the  housing  problem  that  was  in  Kobe  after  an  

earthquake  left  many  people  living  in  very  bad  houses.  The  reason  why  he  started  to  

uses  paper,  as  a  building  material  is  that  he  “was  interested  in  weak  materials”.  

Through  his  exploration  of  materials  he  came  across  paper  and  found  out  that  it  was  

an  easy  material  to  work  with  and  build  cheap  houses  out  of.  Shigeru  Ban  is  a  

Japanese  architect  who  is  well  known  throughout  the  world  for  his  many  innovated  

designs.  Shigeru  Ban  studied  architecture  at  the  Southern  California  Institute  of  

Architecture  and  Cooper  Union's  School  of  Architecture.  He  is  best  known  for  

designing  invisible  structures.  Invisible  structures  are  buildings  that  incorporate  the  

building  material  directly  into  the  design.  Some  of  his  other  famous  works  include  

Furniture  House,  Curtain  wall  house,  Naked  House,  and  Japanese  Pavilion.  In  the  

furniture  house  Ban  used  bamboo  for  the  first  time  in  contemporary  housing  and  

was  able  to  do  it  by  laminating  the  lumber  to  turn  it  into  a  sufficient  building  

material.  Paper  log  houses  are  not  the  only  buildings  that  he  has  build  that  uses  

paper;  he  has  also  made  the  paper  dome,  paper  church,  paper  emergency  shelters  

and  many  more.    

  Shigeru  Ban  is  famous  for  making  

buildings  out  of  sustainable  

materials.    The  Paper  Log  Houses  are  

made  out  of  cardboard  tubes  that  are  

106  millimeters  in  diameter  and  four  

millimeters  thick,  beer  crates,  

sandbags,  wood,  plywood,  steel  rods,  

tent  material,  and  waterproof  tape.  A  

requirement  of  the  project  was  that  

all  materials  were  to  be  

prefabricated  and  that  each  home  

was  to  be  built  on  site.    Each  house  

takes  around  six  hours  to  assemble  

with  anywhere  between  one  and  

twenty  people  helping  in  the  process.  

The  assembly  of  each  building  starts  

from  the  ground  and  works  up  from  

there.    The  base  of  each  house  is  

crates  filled  with  sand  bags  that  help  

hold  the  foundation  in  place.    Next,  a  

plywood  floor  is  lined  long  the  edges  

of  the  crates  and  plywood  pegs  are  

placed  around  the  outer  perimeter.    

The  cardboard  tubes  that  form  the  walls  are  slipped  onto  the  pegs  and  sealed  with  

waterproof  sponge  tape.    Steel  rods  that  run  horizontally  for  extra  support  hold  the  

tubes  together.    Atop  of  the  tubes  are  plywood  connections  that  hold  the  header,  

which  is  the  start  of  the  roofing  system.  Diagonal  supports  are  added  to  the  sides  of  

the  roofing  system.    Finally,  a  thick  double-­‐layered  tent  material  covers  the  gabled  

roof.    Each  unit  is  easily  dismantled  and  all  of  the  materials  are  recyclable:  after  

dismantling  each  home,  the  materials  are  sent  to  a  recycling  plant  where  the  process  

begins  again.  

  Around  300,000  people  were  

displaced  after  the  earthquake  in  

Kobe  in  1995.  Some  of  those  

people  were  forced  to  live  in  

shabby,  crowded,  cramped  tents  

for  a  long  time.    Shigeru  Ban  

constructed  paper  loghouses  so  

that  the  refugees  would  not  have  

to  live  in  those  shabby  cramped  tents.  There  were  so  many  people  in  need  of  homes,  

so  the  paper  loghouse  is  perfect  for  this  situation  because  it  can  be  easily  

constructed  by  anyone.  It  can  be  quickly  constructed  because  it  is  prominent  

internationally,  and  can  be  made  out  of  any  type  of  paper  product.    Most  people  

were  left  with  nothing,  including  money,  and  what  is  effective  about  the  paper  

loghouses  is  that  it  is  cost  effective.  For  the  families  who  could  not  go  back  to  their  

homes  the  paper  loghouses  can  be  permanent  houses  with  or  without  a  kitchen  and  

a  bathroom,  even  though  it  is  made  out  of  paper.  The  roof  is  made  out  of  tent  

material  so  that  it  can  retain  the  heat  of  the  houses  during  the  winter,  but  allows  air  

circulation  in  the  summer.    But  for  those  families  who  don’t  want  to  live  in  these  

houses  forever,  the  paper  loghouse  can  be  easily  dismantled  and  recycled,  to  help  

the  environment.    Thanks  to  Shigeru  Ban,  the  refugees  did  not  have  to  worry  about  

shelter  after  the  earthquake  in  1995,  because  of  the  paper  loghouse.      

  Shigeru  Ban’s  Log  house  is,  not  surprisingly,  quite  unconventional  in  terms  of  

materials  and  physical  characteristics.  The  structures  are  only  one  story  tall,  and  do  

not  need  tremendous  weight-­‐bearing  strength  since  they  were  only  holding  up  

themselves  and  a  small  roof  of  cardboard  materials.  Therefore,  Ban  decided  to  

utilize  relatively  small  diameter  cardboard  tubes  as  his  main  building  material.  The  

Log  House  is  constructed  of  walls  of  cardboard  tubes,  each  tube  having  a  diameter  of  

four  and  a  half  inches.  Because  ease  of  building  was  a  higher  priority  than  immense  

strength,  a  thickness  of  four  millimeters  was  chosen  for  the  tubes.  Because  all  the  

building  materials  for  the  log  houses  had  to  be  readily  available,  cheap  items,  beer  

crates  made  by  Kirin  beer  were  used  for  the  foundation  of  the  houses.  These  crates,  

ordinary  beer  containers,  were  chosen  specifically  because  their  color  goes  well  

with  that  of  the  cardboard  tubes,  making  for  an  acceptably  pleasant  overall  color  

scheme  without  the  use  of  expensive  or  time-­‐consuming  paint.  Contained  within  the  

foundation  crates  are  sandbags,  which  provide  a  heavy,  stable  mass  to  hold  down  

and  “root”  the  houses  to  the  ground.    

  For  the  houses’  floors  and  window  frames,  which  must  be  of  consistent  

dimensions  and  surface,  plywood  was  chosen  as  a  strong,  yet  economical  material.  

With  pegs  fixed  at  its  edges,  the  plywood  floor,  thirteen  feet  square,  will  readily  

accept  and  hold  the  cardboard  tubes  which  make  up  the  walls,  assisted  by  a  small  

quantity  of  quarter  inch  diameter  steel  rod  to  keep  the  tubes  aligned.  Waterproof  

tape  is  applied  at  the  building  site  in  the  seams  between  the  cardboard  tubes,  

thereby  effectively  sealing  the  inside  of  the  house,  and  its  inhabitants,  from  the  

elements.  When  little  protection  is  needed,  the  gabled  ends  of  the  roof  can  be  

opened,  providing  effective  ventilation  and  airflow.    

  With  the  emphasis  of  the  project  being  on  economical  building  materials,  

comfortable,  utility-­‐oriented  housing,  and  quick  build  and  teardown,  Shigeru  Ban  

also  strove  for  a  pleasant  appearance.  He  maintains  that  even  though  the  log  house  

design  is  intended  as  a  purely  functional  one,  part  of  its  functionality  is  in  its  having  

a  pleasant  appearance.  In  addition,  the  structures  are  excellent  in  another  area:  

sustainability.  Being  constructed  chiefly  of  paper,  an  easily  recyclable  natural  

substance,  the  houses  have  virtually  no  adverse  environmental  impact.  Indeed,  all  

the  paper  tubes  can  be  recycled  and  become  part  of  a  new  house,  which  means  that  

no  net  waste  results  from  the  walls  and  roof  support  system  of  the  house,  which  

together  make  up  a  vast  majority  of  its  construction.    

  Shigeru  Ban's  paper  houses  signify  a  designer's  ability  to  solve  issues  on  a  

societal  and  environmental  level.  His  innovation  allows  for  economic,  communal,  

and  ecological  improvements.  The  standing  issue  is  that  many  people  in  

impoverished  parts  of  the  world  either  have  no  money  to  build  homes,  or  there  are  

not  enough  resources  readily  available.  In  some  cases,  both  of  these  dilemmas  occur.  

  Ban's  solution  is  obvious,  yet  genius.  He  is  a  pioneer  in  a  new  technology  known  

as  paper-­‐log  construction.  With  this  technology,  houses  can  be  built  quickly  and  

inexpensively,  without  the  need  for  large  machinery  or  skilled  workers.  An  example  

of  this  method  being  put  to  use  is  the  instance  of  the  earthquake  in  Kobe,  Japan  in  

1995  which  left  over  three  hundred  thousand  people  without  shelter.  Even  six  

months  after  the  earthquake,  residents  were  still  living  in  and  around  tents  pitched  

on  top  of  the  rubble  of  their  old  homes.  With  no  real  shelter  and  no  means  of  

rebuilding  their  houses,  things  looked  bleak.  This  is  when  Ban's  design  was  really  

able  to  show  its  true  potential.  Only  10  people  are  needed  to  erect  the  houses  in  less  

than  six  hours,  and  the  cost  is  less  than  two  thousand  dollars.  All  of  the  materials  

needed  were  prefabricated  and  assembled  on-­‐site.    

  Ban  also  mentions  the  importance  of  

aesthetics  in  constructing  homes  for  

these  refugees.  He  says,  “Refugee  

shelter  has  to  be  beautiful.  

Psychologically,  refugees  are  damaged.  

They  have  to  stay  in  nice  places.”  The  

houses  are  constructed  out  of  4½”  

diameter  cardboard  tubes,  stacked  

vertically  in  neat,  even  rows.  The  houses  also  have  working  doors  and  windows  

with  operable  shutters  made  of  plywood.  They  have  one  hundred  seventy-­‐two  

square  feet  of  living  space  on  the  interior,  enough  for  the  resident's  furnishings  to  

create  a  homely  atmosphere.  Because  construction  is  so  simple,  the  craft  of  the  

structure  is  not  an  issue.  The  houses  are  built  to  look  tidy  and  rigid,  as  well  as  

welcoming  and  quaint.  Ban  has  even  built  a  church  capable  of  seating  eighty  people  

using  this  method  of  construction.    

  These  paper  homes  not  only  provide  refugees  with  a  place  to  live,  but  they  also  

have  a  light  impact  on  the  environment.  All  of  the  materials  needed  to  build  them  

are  made  from  recyclable  matter.    Though  they  are  sturdy,  when  they  are  no  longer  

needed  theses  houses  can  be  disassembled  as  quickly  and  easily  as  they  were  

erected,  and  all  of  the  building  materials  can  b  recycled  rather  than  sent  to  a  landfill.  

This  is  especially  important  within  some  nomadic  cultures  in  which  the  people  do  

not  live  in  one  place  for  very  long.  Also,  the  paper  tubes  are  lightweight  and  

therefore  easy  to  transport  in  large  quantities  when  needed.  However  since  they  are  

usually  made  on-­‐site,  no  gasoline  needs  to  be  used  for  transportation  of  the  primary  

material  of  these  structures.  Ban's  design  for  paper  homes  proved  to  be  so  

economical  and  ecological  in  Kobe  that  more  of  these  houses  have  been  constructed  

in  Rwanda,  Turkey,  India,  and  the  in  coastal  towns  of  Southeast  Asia  which  have  

been  devastated  by  tropical  storms.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works  Cited  

• “Shigeru  Ban:  Paper  Loghouse.”  Designboom,  2010.  Web.  1  Nov.  2010.  

http://www.designboom.com/history/ban_paper.html  

• “Paper  Log  Houses.”  Shigeru  Ban  Architects,  2010.  Web.  1  Nov.  2010.  

http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_WORKS/SBA_PAPER/SBA_PAPER_

6/SBA_paper_6.html  

• Luscombe,  Belinda.  “He  Builds  With  a  Really  Tough  Material:  Paper.”  Time.com.  

Architecture  and  Design.  Web.  1  Nov.  2010.  

http://www.time.com/time/innovators/design/profile_ban.html  

• “Paper  Log  House:  Shigeru  Ban.”  MyWeb  at  Wentworth.  Web.  1  Nov.  2010.    

http://myweb.wit.edu/kiml1/590fall05/web-­‐content/chris.pdf