Shigeru ban, the Japanese architect who has become the "god of cardboard," accepted the Pritzker prize earlier last week adding that the accolade - though it means a lot to him - will not change the way he works. In fact, he will take up fewer projects and be "very careful" about what he takes up, the startchitect told journalists.
"I like to make my office maybe smaller, because I like to keep doing the same thing, spending a lot of time for each project, designing myself and being on the site and listening to the people who are living there, and also spend enough time for the disaster area," Ban told Dezeen.
"In order to do this, it is very important we make our number of projects smaller. Not quantity but quality."
Ban also added that the prize was more an encouragement than an achievement.
"I want to make a balance of working for the privileged people and working for the disaster. And it's becoming that there is no differences for me. Only difference is whether I am paid or not but otherwise there is no difference," he said.
"This [prize] is such a great encouragement for me to continue in that same direction, to be not only an architect but to make wonderful architecture to be loved by people."
Ban was announced the winner of the prestigious award in March. When the result came in, the Japanese architect was surprised that he won it.
"When Martha Thorne [the executive director of the Pritzker] called to tell me, I thought she was joking," Ban told The Architect's Newspaper.
"I knew about the reason why I was chosen, and I knew that the reason was quite different from other laureates," he continued. "It was an encouragement for me to continue to do the kind of social work I do as well as making projects like museums and others, so I try to keep a balance between other kinds of projects and working in disaster areas. So I'm taking it as an encouragement rather than the award was for such achievement."
Some of his most prominent projects include the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, the Paper Concert Hall in Italy and Paper Log houses used in several natural disaster hit areas and refugee camps.
More recently, in honor of the FIFA World Cup, Ban built a temporary pavilion in Tokyo in his signature style. Check some photos out here.
You can also stream the Pritzker prize presentation ceremony here.
