For the second consecutive year, another Japanese architect bagged the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Award for 2014. 56-year old Shigeru Ban, known for his modernist and airy designs and humanitarian efforts took home the award along with a $100,000 prize. Ban is the thirdarchitect from the country to win the award for the past five years. Japan’s Toyo Ito won the award last year.
Economical and breezy designs distinguish the works of Ban. His design on the Center Pompidou museum in Metz, France used latticework to support the undulating white roof with materials sourced locally. In a statement issued by Pritzker jury chairman Peter Palumbo, he said, “Shigeru Ban is a force of nature, which is entirely appropriate in the light of his voluntary work for the homeless and dispossessed in areas that have been devastated by natural disasters.” Further adding that, “He also ticks the several boxes for qualification to the Architectural Pantheon – a profound knowledge of his subject with a particular emphasis on cutting-edge materials and technology; total curiosity and commitment; endless innovation; an infallible eye; an acute sensibility – to name but a few.”
Ban’s architectural ingenuity influenced by Japanese carpentry’s simplicity has also spread to humanitarian efforts. He designed low-cost shelters made from reusable items such as paper tubes for the refugees of the 1994 conflict in Rwanda, and those affected by the 1995 earthquake in Japan. In a statement Ban issued, he noted, “When I started working this way, almost 30 years ago, nobody was talking about the environment. But this way of working came naturally to me.” The late Jay A. Pritzker along with his wife, Cindy set up The Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979. It aims to honor the most innovative architects in all over the world. The jury who chose Ban also mentioned the impeccable designs he did on the Curtain Wall House in Tokyo and Naked House in Saitama, Japan. He will be awarded the prize in a June at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
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