SIZE + MATTER: PAPER TOWER: SHIGERU BAN AT SOUTHBANK CENTRE

Japanese architect and designer Shigeru Ban working with cardboard manufacturer Sonoco will create a 22m high cone shaped structure out of compressed cardboard tubing.

Cardboard can have structural strength and this installation shows what can be achieved. It will be possible to stand inside and look out through the structure as the tubes narrow to a single cone. The installation is part of the Size & Matter project.

Shigeru Ban is an architect based in Tokyo and Paris. He is best known for his disaster relief projects – in particular the cheap immediate housing made from paper and card which can be used in earthquake situations. For the London Design Festival he has designed a tower made from cardboard which will soar over the embankment walkway and be visible as a new addition to the South Bank skyline. Made from cardboard tubes, the tower is articulated by metal joints, a system similar in design to the system used by Ban in his construction of a bridge, boathouse and various pavilions around the world. Sponsored by Sonoco, a global supplier of industrial and consumer packaging, the structure will be 22m high and once built, will become the tallest paper tower in the world.

As part of the London Design Festival, Arup is providing design engineering expertise for the construction of the installations for Size + Matter by Shigeru Ban Architects and Marc Newson Ltd. The structures will remain in place after the Festival and throughout the Frieze Art Fair until 15 October when they will be auctioned by Philips de Pury & Co.

Until: 18th October 2009