Shigeru Ban Architects

Shigeru Ban Architects was established in Tokyo in 1985. Founded as a small practice, SBA has since grown to become an international architecture firm with offices in Tokyo, Paris, and New York. With a global staff of 75, SBA has completed over 100 projects across 6 continents. As Design Principal, Shigeru Ban designs and oversees the development of all SBA projects in a studio design setting.

SBA’s work carefully considers its geographic, historical, and cultural context, exploring new ways to integrate natural building materials with innovative construction practices. The firm is a leader in contemporary mass timber design.

Notable recent projects include: • Terrace House, Vancouver, BC, Canada, expected completion: 2021 • Swatch and Omega Headquarters, Museum, and Factory, Biel/Bienne Switzerland, 2019 • Shonai Hotel Suiden Terrasse, Yamagata, Japan, 2018 • Mt. Fuji World Heritage Center, Shizuoka, Japan, 2017 • Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado, 2014 • Cardboard Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2013 • Tamedia Office, Zurich, Switzerland, 2013 • Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Clubhouse, Yeoju, Korea, 2010 • Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France, 2010

The work of SBA has garnered state, regional, national, and international recognition, including awards from the Japan Institute of Architects (JIA), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), American Institute of Architects (AIA), and Canadian Wood Council (CWC).

Biography

Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban is an architect, educator, and humanitarian with a global perspective. His unique international cultural sensibility stems from his diverse geographic background, having been raised in Tokyo, educated in California and New York, and now leading his firm from offices in Tokyo, New York, and Paris.

Upon completing his studies at the Cooper Union, Shigeru returned to Tokyo to establish his firm, Shigeru Ban Architects. As an office of one, he began with exhibitions and small scale projects with limited budgets. In 1994, he established the Voluntary Architects Network, an NGO through which he has provided a wide array of relief projects for nearly 25 years. Simultaneously, Shigeru has advanced the field of wood and mass timber design and construction.

In addition to his design work, Shigeru is dedicated to teaching the next generation of architects. He began teaching at Tama Art University in Tokyo in the early 1990s, and has since taught at numerous universities in Japan and the US, including Keio University, Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia.

Shigeru is the recipient of awards including the Pritzker Prize, L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the National Order of the Legion of Honor in France, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, and the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.