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Paper
Church (Takatori
Kyokai Church) Shigeru
Ban, 1995 The
Paper Church was constructed shortly after the devastating earthquake that
shook the Kobe region in 1995 had burned down the existing Takatori
church. The primary objective of the design of the church was a low-cost,
easy-to-assemble structure that could be quickly and simply erected by
volunteers to provide a place of worship for the victims of the
earthquake. Intended to be
only a temporary structure, the church made of paper tubes is still
standing to this day.
The
beauty of the church is its modesty of materials. A rectangular volume made of clear plastic louvers encloses
an oval of 58 paper tubes 5 meters high, 330 millimeters in diameter which
support a tent-like roof of white, Teflon-coated fabric. The paper tubes are built up from laminated layers of recycled
paper to a thickness of 15 millimeters. Along
the long axis of the oval the paper tube columns are spaced closely to
form a back drop for the altar as well as a screen for the storage space
beyond. On the entry side the
paper tube columns are spaced at a greater distance to allow entry and
continuity between interior and exterior, so that when the doors are open
the space of the church is extended to the exterior, which is also
demarcated by the expansive overhanging roof that was part of a later
addition.
Kari
Silloway 2004 How to visit From
JR Osaka Station take JR Tokaido Line (local only) to JR Takatori Station
(50 minutes). From here the church
site can be found by walking five minutes to the South. For
more information please telephone +81 78 731 8300. The church has now been relocated to a site in Taiwan, and reportedly nothing visible remains at the original site in Japan:
Information and photograph: Marcus Trimble 2005 |
