Born in Tokyo in 1957, Ban graduated from the Cooper Union with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1984. He founded Shigeru Ban Architects in 1985 and later established offices in New York and Paris. Since 1985, Ban has developed a unique structural system using recycled paper as a building material and, alongside his architectural work, has been engaged in disaster relief efforts worldwide. In 1995, he founded a nonprofit organization named Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN). He is the recipient of le grade de commandeur of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (2014), the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2014), the Mother Teresa Social Justice Award (2017), the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord (2022), and the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (2024). His major works include Centre Pompidou Metz (2010, France), Cardboard Cathedral (2013, NZ), La Seine Musicale (2017, France), Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre Shizuoka (2017, France), Tainan Art Museum (2019), SIMOSE (2023), and Toyota City Museum (2024). Currently, he serves as Special Guest Professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology. In March 2023, he was named a new member of the Japan Art Academy.
| 2025– | Japan Art Academy Member |
| 2025 | Enku Award |
| 2024 | Praemium Imperiale for Architecture |
| 2023- | Special Guest Professor, Shibaura Institute of Technology |
| 2023- | Professor, Graduate School of Art Studies, Kyoto University of the Arts |
| 2022 | Princess of Asturias Award for Concord |
| 2022 | Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Award |
| 2021 | Towa Futurist Award |
| 2021 | High-level roundtable member, New European Bauhaus |
| 2020 | Specially Appointed Professor at International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS, Tohoku University, Japan) |
| 2019 | The Yomiuri International Cooperation Prize |
| 2019-23 | Professor at Keio University |
| 2018 | Honorary Citizen of Tainan City, Taiwan |
| 2018 | Golden Seat Master Award（China Interior Design Week, Shanghai） |
| 2017 | Schweighofer Prize(for timber construction) |
| 2017 | Mother Teresa Social Justice Award |
| 2017 | Medal with Purple Ribbon |
| 2016 | JIA Grand Prix |
| 2015-19 | Guest Professor of Keio University |
| 2015 | Posey Leadership Award |
| 2015 | The Shigemitsu Award for Global Cultural Exchange |
| 2015 | Crystal Award (World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland) |
| 2015 | The Asahi Prize |
| 2014 | Kyoto City Artistic and Cultural Commendations, Sparkle Grand Award |
| 2014 | Prix Champagne de la Joie de Vivre |
| 2014 | Asia Game Changers Awards (Asia Society, NY) |
| 2014 | L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (le grade de commandeur) |
| 2014 | Honorary Member of the Japan Institute of Architects |
| 2014 | Honorary Doctorate of Cooper Union |
| 2014 | Pritzker Architecture Prize |
| 2012 | Mainichi Art Prize |
| 2012 | KALMANI Prize 2012, Mexico City |
| 2012 | Art Prize from Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs |
| 2011-23 | Professor of Kyoto University of Art and Design |
| 2011 | Auguste Perret Prize |
| 2010 | Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (le grade d’officier) |
| 2010 | Visiting Professor of Harvard University GSD |
| 2010 | Visiting Professor of Cornell University |
| 2009 | Grand Prize, Architectural Institute of Japan |
| 2009 | Honorary Doctorate of Technical University of Munich |
| 2008 | L’Ordre National du Mérite, France (le grade d’officier) |
| 2006-09 | Jury of Pritzker Architecture Prize |
| 2006 | Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (HRAIC) |
| 2005 | Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture |
| 2005 | Thomas Jefferson Medalist in Architecture |
| 2005 | Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Amherst College |
| 2005 | International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (IFRIBA) |
| 2004 | Grande Medaille d’Or, Prix de l’Academie d’Architecture de France |
| 2004 | Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (HFAIA) |
| 2001-08 | Professor of Keio University |
| 2001 | Gengo Matsui Award for the Japan Pavilion |
| 2000 | Listed in “TIME 100: The Next Wave – Innovators” Time Magazine |
| 2000 | The Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award from the Cooper Union, NY |
| 2000 | Visiting Fellow of Donald Keen Center at Columbia University |
| 2000 | Visiting Professor of Columbia University |
| 1997 | The JIA Prize for the best young architect of the year |
| 1996-2000 | Adjunct Professor of Architecture at Nihon University |
| 1996 | Innovative Award, Tokyo Journal |
| 1995-99 | Adjunct Professor of Architecture at Yokohama National University |
| 1995-99 | Consultant of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) |
| 1995 | Mainichi Design Prize |
| 1995 | Established NGO, Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN) |
| 1993-95 | Adjunct Professor of Architecture atTama Art University |
| 1985 | Established private practice in Tokyo |
| 1984 | Received Bachelor of Architecture from Cooper Union |
| 1982-83 | Worked for Arata Isozaki, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1980-82 | Cooper Union School of Architecture |
| 1978-80 | Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, USA |
| 1957 | Born in Tokyo |
Works
| 2024 | Toyota City Museum, Toyota, Aichi, Japan |
| 2023 | SIMOSE (SIMOSE ART MUSEUM + SIMOSE ART GARDEN VILLA), Otake, Hiroshima, Japan |
| 2022 | ZEN Wellness SEINEI, Awaji Island, Hyogo, Japan |
| 2019 | Swatch Omega, Biel / Bienne, Switzerland |
| 2019 | Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan |
| 2017 | Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre, Shizuoka, Japan |
| 2017 | La Seine Musicale, Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, France |
| 2014 | Oita Prefectural Art Museum, Oita, Japan |
| 2014 | Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA |
| 2013 | Cardboard Cathedral, Christchurch, Newzealand |
| 2010 | Center Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France |
| 2005 | Nomadic Museum, New York, USA/California, USA/Tokyo, Japan |
| 2000 | Japan Pavilion, Expo 2000, Hanover, Germany |
| 1995 | Paper Church Kobe, Hyogo, Japan |
