Shigeru Ban

The aim of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, since its creation thirty-five years ago, has been to recognise living architects for the excellence of the work they have built and for their significant and sustained contribution to humanity.

Shigeru Ban, the 2014 laureate, fully reflects the spirit of the prize. He is an exceptional architect who, for twenty years, has been responding with creativity and high-quality design to extreme situations caused by devastating natural disasters. His buildings provide shelter, community centres and spiritual places for those who have suffered enormous loss and destruction. When tragedy strikes, he is often present from the beginning, as in Rwanda, Turkey, India, China, Italy and Haiti, and its country of origin, Japan, among others.

His creative approach and innovation, especially in relation to building materials and structures, and not only his good intentions, are present in all his works. To respond to urgent challenges through excellent design, Shigeru Ban has expanded the role of the profession; he has made a place at the table for architects to engage in dialogue with governments and public agencies, philanthropists and affected communities. His sense of responsibility and his positive action to create quality architecture to serve the needs of society, together with his original approach to these humanitarian challenges, make this year's laureate an exemplary professional.

The laureate has an exceptionally long career. Since the founding of his first office in Tokyo in 1985 and its subsequent expansion to New York and Paris, he has realised projects ranging from minimalist housing, experimental houses and dwellings to museums, exhibition pavilions, conference and concert halls and office buildings.

The basis of much of his work is his experimental approach. He has broadened the field of architecture, not only in terms of the problems and challenges it addresses, but also in terms of the tools and techniques to deal with them. He is able to see in common components and materials, such as paper tubes, packaging materials or transport containers, opportunities to use them in new ways. He is especially known for his structural innovations and creative use of unconventional materials such as bamboo, fabric, paper, plastic composites and recycled paper fibre.

In Naked House, he was able to question the traditional notion of rooms and, consequently, of domestic life, and at the same time create a translucent, almost magical atmosphere. He did this with modest means: exterior walls clad in transparent corrugated plastic and sections of white acrylic stretched inside on a wooden frame. This sophisticated layered composition of common materials used naturally and efficiently provides comfort, efficient environmental performance and, at the same time, a sensual quality of light.

His own studio, located on the top of a terrace of the Centre Pompidou in Paris during the six years he worked on the Metz museum project, was built using cardboard tubes and a membrane covering the arched roof. He has also used shipping containers as prefabricated elements in the construction of museums. His work is proof of his ability to add value through design. He developed new conceptual and structural ideas that can be seen in PC Pile House, House of Double Roof, Furniture House, Wall-less House and Nine-Square Grid House.

Another recurring theme in his work is the spatial continuity between interior and exterior spaces. In Curtain Wall House, he uses movable tent-like curtains to easily link the inside and outside, while providing privacy when needed. The fourteen-storey Nicolas G. Hayek Centre in Tokyo is covered with glass shutters on the front and rear façades that can be opened completely.

For Shigeru Ban, sustainability is not an afterthought, but is intrinsic to architecture. His works seek appropriate products and systems that are in harmony with the environment and the specific context, using renewable and locally produced materials wherever possible. One example is his recently opened Tamedia office building in Zurich, which uses an interlocking timber structural system, completely devoid of hardware and glue.

His great knowledge of structure and his appreciation of masters such as Mies van der Rohe and Frei Otto have contributed to the development and clarity of his buildings. His architecture is straightforward and simple. However, it is never ordinary, and each new project has an inspiring originality. The elegant simplicity and apparent ease of his works are in reality the result of years of practice and love of building. Above all, his respect for the people who inhabit his buildings, whether they are victims of natural disasters or private clients or the general public, is always revealed through his thoughtful approach, his functional plans, the carefully selected appropriate materials and the richness of the spaces he creates.

Shigeru Ban is a tireless architect whose work exudes optimism. Where others may see insurmountable challenges, Ban sees a call to action. Where others might take a tried and tested path, he sees the opportunity to innovate. He is a committed teacher who is not only a role model for the younger generation, but also an inspiration.

For all these reasons, Shigeru Ban is the winner of the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize