Shigeru Ban, architect of the IE Paper Pavilion, winner of the Pritzker Prize 2014

The Hyatt Foundation announced yesterday, March 24, in Chicago that the 2014 edition of the Pritzker Price would go to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. The jury for the prize, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, underscored Shigeru Ban’s humanitarian work, which includes architechtonic solutions for disaster areas.

In March of 2013 Shigeru Ban inaugurated the only project he has ever undertaken in Spain, the Paper Pavilion situated in the gardens of the IE Business School campus in Madrid, built in collaboration with IE University students of architecture.

The Pavilion comprises a unique structure made up of 173 paper tubes held together by wooden joints that rest on paper columns. The construction took only 12 weeks to erect and was designed in accordance with criteria that included sustainability and efficiency, and the condition that it would be a temporary structure. It is a multipurpose space used for executive education activities, as well as serving as the backdrop for key events like the ELLE Talks, organized by IE in collaboration with ELLE magazine.

“The whole IE community is in celebratory mode about the news that Shigeru Ban has received the prize, which he so richly deserves”, says Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of IE Business School and President of IE University. “Shigeru Ban is a reference for relations and dialogue between east and west, and the integration between tradition and modernity. IE shares his commitment to sustainability and his aim of using architecture to improve society.”

Shigeru Ban also took part in Hay Festival Segovia 2010 as IE University’s guest, sharing his architechtonic projects with festival visitors.

Shigeru Ban’s most famous projects are the Pompidou – Metz Center, Metz, France (2009); Metal Shutter House, New York, (2009); Takatori Church, Kobe, Japan (2007); and the Japanese Pavilion at Hannover World Exhibition Expo 2000. Shigeru Ban was Time Magazine’s Innovator of the Year in 2001.