Alternative housing is an interest of mine and when I came across an article about cardboard buildings in China, I just had to read it. The project is led by a prominent Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, who is building temporary schools in the earthquake-damaged Sichuan province of China. On May 12th, 2008 a huge 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the area and left at least 69,000 dead and approximately 4.8 million homeless. Ban and a team of Japanese students and Chinese workers are using recycled-cardboard and plywood because the materials are cheaper, more readily available and easier to handle than whole-wood planks and steel beams. Also, once permanent buildings are in place, the cardboard structures can be efficiently recycled. It appears to be an extremely resource-effective solution that should be considered for future global disaster relief, particularly in poor, highly populated areas. If you would like to learn more about the cardboard housing project or Shigeru Ban, check out this article on TreeHugger: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/shigeru-ban-paper-tube-schools.php?dcitc=daily_nl
You can see more photos of the school and project activities at Zhu Tao’s blog.
If you are interested in donating to Shigeru Ban’s project: Keio University, Disaster relief for China Earthquake
Image provided via TreeHugger.com
Tags: Chinese cardboard school, recycling, sustainable housing
May 9th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Use of local materials that can also be recycled is such a common sense approach…no shipping of plastic tents across continents, just use materials that are available. We need more pragmatic solutions like this to cope with rapidly changing needs — especially disasters. Good for the Chinese to find practical solutions! “Necessity is the mother of invention” my mother used to say.