japan pavilion, EXPO 2000, hannover, germany

japan pavilion, EXPO 2000, hannover, germany. paper architecture has been approved by the minister of construction as a new structural method ....

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japan pavilion, EXPO 2000, hannover, germany

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shigeru ban joined forces with
- the german professor otto frei,
architect and pioneer in lightweight architecture, who designed the
german pavilion for the montreal expo and the munich olympic stadium,
- buro happold, the british engineering firm behind london's
millennium dome, the largest dome in the world,
- the structural proof engineer prof. stefan polonyi
SONOCO europe, the largest paper tube company in the region,
was responsible for the development of materials.

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'environment' was the hannover expo's theme and the concept
of the japan pavilion was to create a structure whose materials
could be recycled when it was dismantled.
ban designed a curvy paper tunnel supported by a matrix of
recycled paper tubes, to make the construction as low-tech as
possible, the joints were affixed with tape.

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paper architecture has been approved by the minister of construction
as a new structural method in japan. however, this japanese pavilion
has been on a scale that until the present has been attempted.
unfortunately, the structural form needed further re-inforcement
in order to gain legal approval in germany.
while ban and otto had originally envisioned a purely paper tube
structure, the german building authorities insisted on the addition
of a wooden structure.
(shigeru ban said 'not neccessary at all'
- a compromise he had to make, while working with the rigid
german government structural proof engineers).
the paper tubes were laid out flat on a temporary scaffold used to
push the paper grid into the final shape over 3 weeks.
the pre-curved timber structure was then lifted into position and
connected.

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the temporary monument did not end up in the hannover dump.
it is covered with a specially designed, recyclable paper membrane
roof. PVC is the most common substance for tent-like structures,
especially in europe. however, because it emits dioxins when burned,
shigeru ban came up with his own water resistant and fire retardant
paper roofing, which is also light penetrating.
'we only used a small amount of concrete, which is difficult to
dispose of. instead, we created a foundation from wooden boxes
with sand,' said ban.
the structural paper tubes were bought and recycled by a german
paper tube company.
honeycomb board has been used as partitions for the interior.

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the pavilion consisted of an approach zone, an exhibition space
72m long, 15.5m high, and 35m span at its widest point, and
administrative offices.

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