Design
Peek Inside This 'Cardboard Cathedral,' Which Can Withstand Earthquakes
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed the paper-based house of worship, for Christchurch.
The 2011 Christchurch earthquake lasted only a few seconds, but struck with such ferocity (and on the heels of another building-rattling quake) that it sowed unimaginable damage throughout the city. Crumbling structures marked the land in the wake of the disaster, which killed 185, and subsequently had to be dismantled by work crews swinging heavy machinery.
Faced with gaping pockmarks where buildings once stood, the city pondered the same question any quake-ravaged region faces: How best to rebuild? For the overseers of one structure – the stricken Christchurch Cathedral – the answer turned out to be cardboard: huge, heavy rolls of paper pulp stacked into a makeshift but fully functioning house of prayer.