From the Hall of Nations in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan being demolished in 2017 (45 years after it was built) to make way for Bharat Mandapam, and urban homes being regularly torn down to be replaced by multistorey buildings, to Crowne Plaza in Chennai being demolished for real estate redevelopment — it’s clear we do not build to last. Yet, an aspirational India continues with conflicting scenarios — stacked stone for walls and Italian marble for floors — a yen for longevity.

Why is it that, when we come from a culture of thatched roofs, bamboo fences and mud houses, we crave permanence? Why, when we are going to tear the house down in 30 years? When I address this to Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban, who was in Mumbai recently to give the keynote address at India Design ID 2026, he says, “Even in Japan, buildings over 30 years are considered old and brought down.”

Initial years

Ban, 69, the only architect in the world who builds with paper, began his journey in the mid-1980s to create his own style with substance, rooted in his strong humanitarian beliefs. The clue is in his oft-repeated mantra: he was disappointed that, in his field, architects mostly build for the wealthy and privileged, and that their primary role should also be serving society.

Ban began working in disaster relief barely a decade into his career. He created temporary shelters using his favourite material — paper tubes, which he figured out how to easily waterproof and make structurally viable. His design for Paper Log House in Gujarat after the 2001 earthquake is a perfect example. But paper can also be permanent, we find, as his design for the church in Kobe was meant to last for three years but remained for 10.

Centre Pompidou Metz (Metz, France)
| Photo Credit:
Didier Boy de la Tour

There’s more to the story. Ban tells me, “The Church is now in Taiwan, and it is permanent.” Paper Church, originally built in 1995 as a temporary church after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe, Japan, was disassembled in 2005 and donated to Taomi Village in Taiwan, where it was reconstructed as a community centre in 2008.

Shigeru Ban’s all-glass toilet that turns opaque once locked from inside.
| Photo Credit:
The Tokyo Project

Lightweight paper tubes and wooden structures have other advantages, as Ban affirms: “Both costs and labour are considerably less when we build with paper. Construction efforts are also less demanding.” Yet we continue to build in concrete and steel across the world to satisfy commercial demands. Ban’s keynote address at the ID Fair, Balancing Architectural Works and Social Contribution, resonated with its curatorial theme, “The Deep Fathom”, by director Misha Bains, encouraging audiences to go beyond surface-level aesthetics. At a time when words like sustainability and green architecture are common parlance, Ban’s rigorous practice, supported by years of formal testing to meet safety regulations and standard specifications, offers realistic directions. His lectures are often accompanied by a touch of deadpan humour, especially when discussing his paper architecture: “If you run out of toilet paper, you can just tear some off!”

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral (Christchurch,New Zealand).
| Photo Credit:
Stephen Goodenough

Beauty in simplicity

Ban enjoys problem-solving. His structural solutions are hard-earned — a result of the restrictions he has imposed on himself to work with lightweight and repurposed materials to contribute measurably to sustainability. His ideas of transparency are also core to the public toilet project in Tokyo, where pastel-coloured toilets of glass in Yoyogi Fukamachi Mini Park and the Haru-no-Ogawa Community Park, are a conversation starter.

Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club (Yeoju, Korea).
| Photo Credit:
Hiroyuki Hirai

Once the user enters and latches the door, the glass turns opaque. When I remark that the toilet is beautiful, Ban says, “I do not look for beauty. I always look at the location, identify the problem and how the design has to solve for that.”

What are the greatest challenges in building with paper? Ban’s answer is surprising. “There is no regulation for paper, and so it is a process to get permission.” Ban, who has done this consistently, can now use his findings in several countries, like New Zealand, France and Germany.

Mt.Fuji World Heritage Center (Shizuoka, Japan).
| Photo Credit:
Hiroyuki Hirai

When Ban started out, there was hardly anyone talking about sustainability, while today many architects are engaged with environmental issues, which he finds inspiring. The difficulties of working with non-standard materials do not hamper him, as he says, “Any material can be used in building so long as it can meet the regulations.”

The writer is a brand strategist with a background in design from SAIC and NID.

Published – October 23, 2026 06:26 pm IST