Worship spaces for emergency situations: the Paper Church and the Cardboard Cathedral by architect Shigaru Ban.

(Image: The cardboard cathedral of Christchurch (New Zealand), built after the earthquake that destroyed, in 2011, the old cathedral. It measures 80 meters and has a capacity for 700 people).

In 1995, the city of Kobe, Japan, suffered a strong earthquake that left many people homeless and without a church for several months. Japanese architect Shigaru Ban then helped to alleviate the situation in an economical and quick way by designing the paper house and the paper church, the name by which the Takatori Catholic Churchwhose structure is made of cardboard tubes.

It was built by volunteers in only five weeks, without heavy machinery and at low cost. Today, this church, made to stand for a few years, was donated by the Kobe community and moved to Taiwan in 2005, after the island suffered another earthquake, and occupied by the current Takatoria Templealso built with paper and cardboard by Shigaru Ban.

In February 2011, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale devastated the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, and destroyed its cathedral. Ban was commissioned free of charge to design the temporary church, which stands on the same site where the original cathedral was built in 1864.

The architect is famous for use paper and cardboard in their constructions. Therefore, the church will stand for only ten years, during which time it will provide a temporary location for religious ceremonies.

The paper and cardboard cathedral is 80 meters high, seats about 700 people and cost only $3.5 million.

He has also built emergency housing in places such as India and Turkey. Time magazine has defined him as one of the most topical people in the world. In 2014 he was awarded the Pritzer Prize.