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Paper Log House is the name of temporary housing built with wood and cardboard designed by Shigeru Ban in response to the devastating earthquake that hit the Al Haouz region of Morocco on September 8. After Kobe, L’Aquila, Turkey, and Haiti, once again the Japanese architect and 2014 Pritzker Prize winner has put his decades of experience into the development of a temporary housing model for earthquake victims. Paper Log House, the prototype, is on display at the National School of Architecture in Marrakech.
Shigeru Ban is famous for using unusual building materials, often choosing objects that are poor and apparently flimsy – but readily available and recyclable – for his works. Some of his paper and cardboard projects have been spectacular, but they also have a practical and humanitarian side in that they are often used as emergency housing.
For over 30 years, Shigeru Ban has been involved in humanitarian aid, making his knowledge and experience in the field of architecture available to help suffering populations. He is now contributing to post-earthquake management in Morocco.
Paper Log House is easily replicable while satisfying multiple needs, including cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and rapid construction times. The house uses cardboard tubes with its outside walls made of prefabricated wooden panels and its interior walls made of paper. Everything rests on a foundation of plastic crates filled with sand to lift the shelter off the ground.
With the support of humanitarian organization Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN), founded by Shigeru Ban himself in 1995 to assist in reconstruction after disasters, a mock-up of Paper Log House was developed. The prototype is on display at the National School of Architecture in Marrakech, where it was recently presented by Shigeru Ban. The architect later traveled to Morocco to identify areas where the houses could be built.
>>> Read Philip Jodidio’s editorial on the greatest Pritzker Prize winners
Location: Marrakech, Morocco
Completion: 2023
Architect: Shigeru Ban Architects
Photography by and courtesy of Shigeru Ban Architects and VAN
