I travel a lot. Japanese culture is very ancient and very strong. That's why most people who commission work from Japanese architects expect them to create works that have an element of exoticism, the kind typical of Japanese culture. I… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
Architects mostly work for privileged people, people who have money and power, Power and money are invisible, so people hire us to visualize their power and money by making monumental architecture. I love to make monuments, too, but I thought perhaps we can use our experience and knowledge more for the general public, even for those who have lost their… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share
I believe that the material doesn’t need to be strong to be used to build a strong structure. The strength of the structure has… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
The most important thing, in order to forge one's own creative personality, is to travel, to see different environments, different cultures. I wanted to… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
Architecture is not about designing somehting from a free, fanciful idea. It is about discovering and establishing one's own principle, some kind of regularity… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
Everyone used to want to be star architects. That's no longer the case. — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
I did a lot of tests, and I finalized my research. Paper has become a part of my visual vocabulary. You know, paper is… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
I'm not inventing anything new, I'm just using existing material differently. — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
People are not killed by earthquakes alone, but by collapsed buildings. — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
For me, there's no difference between what's temporary and what's definitive. I built the church in Kobe, which was supposed to be temporary, and… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
An architect does not need to spend his whole career making monuments for rich people. — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
I travel a lot. Japanese culture is very ancient and very strong. That's why most people who commission work from Japanese architects expect them… — Shigeru Ban Copy Share Image
