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Lushan, Sichuan: Paper kindergarten completed, resistant to earthquakes and pressure
2019-12-18
Affected by the strong earthquake on April 20, the three-story brick-concrete structure of Miaomiao Kindergarten in Taiping Town, Lushan County became a dangerous building and could not be used. It had to be relocated as a whole to the Yang Temple transitional resettlement area 1 kilometer away. During the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, the enrollment issue of more than 80 preschool children from this resettlement site and nearby villages attracted the attention of caring individuals. Eventually, with the coordination of Southwest Jiaotong University, the Japanese firm Shigeru Ban Architects and several civil support organizations provided targeted assistance to Miaomiao Kindergarten.
The newly completed Miaomiao Kindergarten looks no different from ordinary transitional housing.
Shigeru Ban is the winner of the Pritzker Prize, known as the 'Nobel Prize of Architecture,' and has always focused on new building materials. The Japan Pavilion and New Zealand Church built with paper tubes are internationally renowned. For this aid project, the new kindergarten was personally designed by Shigeru Ban. To enhance the building's earthquake resistance and speed up construction, Ban once again chose his signature material—paper tubes—as the main beams and columns. Ultimately, with the help of local villagers and volunteers, Miaomiao Kindergarten was successfully completed and put into use in less than 60 days.
