TEMPORARY HOUSING

KOBE EARTHQUAKE
Shigeru Ban Architects

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Ar. Shilpa Sood Meenu 14607
Seerat 14618
Arushi 14632
Introduction
The earthquake in Kobe on January 17, 1995,(magnitude 7.2 on
Richter scale) left 6,425 dead, injured 25,000, displaced 300,000
people, damaged or destroyed 100,000 buildings and caused at least
$132 billion worth of damage roughly about 2.5 percent of Japan's
national income, making it one of the most expensive natural disasters
in history. Japanese refer to the disaster as the Great Hansin
Earthquake.

The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe including the
main docks and port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved
rocks, especially the port itself which is built on reclaimed ground.
Here the ground actually liquefied and acted like thick soup, allowing
buildings to topple sideways
Location and Zone
Kobe, Japan Lies In The Seismic Zone V

Eurasian plate
Juan De North American Pacific
Fuca plate plate
plate Arabian Philippines
plate Indian plate
Caribbean
plate
Cocos plate
plate

African plate
Nazca
plate South American Indo Australian
plate plate

Antarctic
Scotia plate
plate
Type : Strike Slip
Epicentre :Osakabay, 20 km SW of Kobe.
Focus :16km below the crust, AwajjiIsland.
Magnitude :7.2 and lasted 20 seconds but had 1320 aftershocks.
Tectonics plates : At this plate margin, the Pacific plate is being
pushed under the Eurasian plate, stresses build up and when they are
released the Earth shakes. This is known as an earthquake happening
Effects of Kobe earthquake
The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe including the
main docks and port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved
rocks, especially the port itself which is built on reclaimed ground.
Here the ground actually liquefied and acted like thick soup,
allowing buildings to topple sideways.
Ground shaking resulted in interruption of transport routes by the
collapse of the elevatedHanshin expresswayand railway lines
causing problems for the industry in the area.
Telephones and other communication services were put out of
action making communication slow and difficult.
About the architect..

Pritzker Laureate Shigeru Ban is well known for his innovative use of
materials and for his compassionate approach to design. For a little over
three decades, Ban, the founder of theVoluntary Architects Network,
has applied his extensive knowledge of recyclable materials, particularly
paper and cardboard, to constructing high-quality, low-effective
shelters for victims of disaster across the world.
Kobe
Temporary
Housing
In 1995, after the Great Hanshin-
Awaji earthquake in Kobe left
310,000 people homeless, Ban
devised the first Paper Log
House, using cardboard
tubes as walls and beer
crates weighed down by
sand bags as foundations.

Dwelling size : 172 sq ft.

Structure : paper
tubes
Diameter of paper tubes :
4
Thickness of paper tubes
: 0.16
Price of dwelling units :
$1270
No. of dwelling units built
: 21
Paper log Houses
In 1995 Shigeru Ban designed the Paper Log House in response to the
earthquake that devastated Kobe. Four years later, he transformed the
Paper Log House to meet the needs of the people. Ban tested the strength
of cardboard tubes, and says he was surprised by what he discovered.
He's used them to build temporary housing for disaster victims in Japan,
Haiti, China and elsewhere.
Steps of paper house construction
Steps of paper house construction
Other features
The design criterion was an inexpensive structure, that could be built
by anyone, with reasonable amount of light and ventilation and at least
acceptable appearance.
The beer crates, rented from the local manufacturer, were also used as
stairs during the construction process.
Self adhesive waterproof tape was applied in the space between the
paper tube.
The roofing material is not attached to the tubular elements so that the
ends can remain open, to provide ventilation in summer, or closed off,
to conserve warm air in winter
Advantages
Made from materials available
nearby site

No skilled labour required; All

that is needed an instruction
manual

Decent housing with effective

cost

Easy execution of task

Fast process of assembling the

parts

Each element can be reused

Does not require a great deal

of preplanned storage

The paper tubes can be

manufactured on site.
Other humanitarian works
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Other humanitarian works

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Other humanitarian works
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Conclusion
Architectural intelligence makes a difference by considering whole
environments and not only single issues. Spatial organization in this
situation implies the integration of temporary structures into existing
social and economic contexts .

There was much more coordination with the people in need than
simply providing them with a short-term place to stay, but was able
to provide them hope and bring order to the devastation.
The people became involved in the construction process and created
a place to feel safe and maintain independence by using the
materials and innovations that already existed around them.
Shigeru Bans Paper Log House has also been compared to innovative
approaches to emergency shelter design. He shows us one approach
to a very specific problem: what to do with hundreds of thousands of
people left stranded with no home.
Through the visceral appeal, these structures have a simple and
inviting atmosphere, and the way they are clustered together creates
a tight-knit sense of community.
They are also unfinished looking in a way, and are visually not what
we might be used to seeing. However, considering these structures
exist mainly in devastated or poor areas of the world, it is very likely
that those cultures view them differently.
References

T.R. Reid, National Geographic, July 1995

http://www.archdaily.com/489255/the-humanitarian-works-of-
shigeru-ban

http://www.archdaily.com/792108/spotlight-shigeru-ban

http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/GCSE/AQA/Restless
%20Earth/Earthquakes/Kobe.htm