From a house without walls to exhibition spaces in shipping containers, Shigeru Ban has constantly challenged architectural rule and expectation. In the age of the “starchitect,” he has also demonstrated a commitment to humanitarian practice: Over the course of his esteemed career, his inventive, elegant designs have been applied as much to private commissions as to emergency relief work at the sites of natural and man-made disasters around the world, from Kobe to New Orleans.

For the Pritzker Prize jury, which chose Ban as its 2014 winner, the architect manifests “total curiosity and commitment; endless innovation; an infallible eye; an acute sensibility.” This updated monograph, compiled with the architect’s collaboration, brings together every one of Ban's built works, including such recent projects as the Tamedia headquarters in Zurich, the Aspen Art Museum, and the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch.

对于坂茂来说，社会责任意味着使用一些建筑材料，像硬纸管、竹子、泥砖和橡胶树。这些材料不仅容易得到，而且便宜，可以循环使用。因此在建筑界，坂茂也以敢大胆使用最廉价、最脆弱的材料而闻名。2006年，他用中国竹编帽子设计的法国蓬皮杜中心新馆，从其他153名竞争对手中脱颖而出；日本神户大地震时，他仅用一天时间，为失去家园的灾民盖起了一座纸筒教堂；他还提出用传真纸筒芯代替钢筋水泥的想法,2008年汶川大地震时，有参加国际灾后重建……
从一个没有围墙的房子到集装箱中的展览，坂茂不断挑战建筑规则和既定概念。作为这一时代的“明星建筑师”，他还展示了人道主义实践的承诺：在他的职业生涯中，他的创造性、优雅的设计尽可能多的应用于重建自然和人为灾害地区中去，从神户到新奥尔良，为世界各地带来救援。
正如普利兹克建筑奖评委会所说的那样，坂茂博士通过他高超的建筑技艺为遭受自然灾害地区的无家可归者和丧失财产者提供了志愿服务，他特别强调对尖端材料和技术的运用，有充分的好奇心和执着，创新永无止境。

  Philip Jodidio (born 1954) studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His books include TASCHEN’s Architecture Now! series, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, and Zaha Hadid. He is internationally renowned as one of the most popular writers on the subject of architecture.