Multistory Temporary Housing by Shigeru Ban

Disaster relief projects are of great concern to Shigeru Ban: His government-funded, multistory temporary housing is now under construction in Japan. Construction began for Shigeru Ban’s Container Temporary Housing located on a baseball field in Onagawa—a coastal town of 10,000 residents situated at the North-East side of Japan that was decimated by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Onagawa had an urgent need for temporary disaster relief housing: The earthquake had left 3,800 of its 4,500 homes partially, if not completely, damaged. Right after the earthquake the homeless found shelter in one of the city’s gymnasium where Ban installed 250 sets of paper tube partitions as an immediate intervention after the earthquake. But Onagawa’s rugged terrain was not well suited for the standard single-story dwellings issued by the government for all its homeless. Therefore Shigeru Ban proposed to erect create two- and three-story buildings that would take up less flat area and that could be built quickly from shipping containers and steel frames. The containers will be placed in a checkerboard pattern in order to create an open living space in between
 the units and to improve seismic performance
: Each container unit will hold private bed and bathrooms while kitchen and dining areas will occupy the at the time of construction open spaces in between the containers, which will be later enclosed with window walls. The retailer MUJI will donate furniture and cooking equipment. Shigeru Ban’s Container Temporary Housing development will provide temporary shelter for 188 families when it’s completed on October 15. Though not designed for permanent occupancy, the units are designed so that they can be reused during future disasters.