Shigeru Ban wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for Concord

Oviedo, Spain, Jun 23 (EFE).- Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was awarded Spain’s coveted Princess of Asturias Award for Concord on Thursday in recognition of his contribution to innovation and humanitarian causes.

Ban, 64, is renowned for his use of sustainable materials such as paper and cardboard and for being the founder of the NGO Voluntary Architects Network, which has incorporated his designs to provide temporary accommodation for refugees in disaster zones around the world.

Born in Tokyo, Ban later studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Cooper Union’s School of Architecture.

His cheap and accessible temporary housing designs have been used to provide shelter for natural disaster victims from Japan to Haiti, Rwanda to Turkey, and beyond.

Besides his humanitarian work, Ban, winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2014, is known for his Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Centre-Pompidou in Metz, France, the Aspen Art Museum in the United States and the Takatori Catholic Cathedral in Japan, among many others.

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