FROM THE EDITOR

Shigeru Ban, the architect we are featuring in this issue, has been a professor at the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus since 2019, and has his own research laboratory there.

One of the themes that Ban’s research lab is working on is the use of architecture to provide support for disaster victims and displaced people. They work on paper tube-based partitions for evacuation shelters, temporary housing made from plywood, research on how government functions might be relocated from Tokyo in the event of a large-scale earthquake, and much more.

Because it is based on such extensive real-world experience in disaster areas, Ban’s research reverberates strongly with his students, prompting many to get involved and join him in his ongoing search for answers to the question of how architecture and architects can help in times of emergency.

For this special feature, we had the privilege of sitting down with Ban to hear what prompts him to engage in this relief work, in both natural disasters and war.