Submitted to: Submitted by:

Ar. Shilpa Sood Meenu 14607

Seerat 14618
Arushi 14632
Introduction
The earthquake in Kobe on January 17, 1995,(magnitude 7.2 on Richter scale) left 6,425
dead, injured 25,000, displaced 300,000 people, damaged or destroyed 100,000
buildings and caused at least $132 billion worth of damage roughly about 2.5 percent of
Japan's national income, making it one of the most expensive natural disasters in
history. Japanese refer to the disaster as the Great Hansin Earthquake.

The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe including the main docks and
port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved rocks, especially the port itself
which is built on reclaimed ground. Here the ground actually liquefied and acted like
thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways
Location and Zone
Kobe, Japan Lies In The Seismic Zone V

Eurasian plate
Juan De North American Pacific
Fuca plate plate
plate Arabian Philippines
plate Indian plate
Caribbean
plate
Cocos plate
plate

African plate
Nazca
plate South American Indo Australian
plate plate

Antarctic
Scotia plate
plate
Type : Strike Slip
Epicentre : Osaka bay, 20 km SW of Kobe.
Focus : 16km below the crust, Awajji Island.
Magnitude : 7.2 and lasted 20 seconds but had 1320 aftershocks.
Tectonics plates : At this plate margin, the Pacific plate is being pushed under the
Eurasian plate, stresses build up and when they are released the Earth shakes. This is
known as an earthquake happening along a subduction zone.
Effects of Kobe earthquake
The worst effected area was in the central part of Kobe including the main docks and
port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved rocks, especially the port itself
which is built on reclaimed ground. Here the ground actually liquefied and acted like
thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways.
Ground shaking resulted in interruption of transport routes by the collapse of the
elevated Hanshin expressway and railway lines causing problems for the industry in the
area.
Telephones and other communication services were put out of action making
communication slow and difficult.
About the architect..

Pritzker Laureate Shigeru Ban is well known for his innovative use of materials and for his
compassionate approach to design. For a little over three decades, Ban, the founder of
the Voluntary Architects Network, has applied his extensive knowledge of recyclable
materials, particularly paper and cardboard, to constructing high-quality, low-effective
shelters for victims of disaster across the world.
Kobe Temporary
Housing
In 1995, after the Great Hanshin-Awaji
earthquake in Kobe left 310,000 people
homeless, Ban devised the first Paper
Log House, using cardboard tubes as
walls and beer crates weighed down by
sand bags as foundations.

Dwelling size : 172 sq ft.

Structure : paper
tubes
Diameter of paper tubes : 4
Thickness of paper tubes : 0.16
Price of dwelling units : $1270
No. of dwelling units built : 21
(initially)
Paper log Houses
In 1995 Shigeru Ban designed the Paper Log House in response to the earthquake that
devastated Kobe. Four years later, he transformed the Paper Log House to meet the needs
of the people. Ban tested the strength of cardboard tubes, and says he was surprised by
what he discovered. He's used them to build temporary housing for disaster victims in
Japan, Haiti, China and elsewhere.
Steps of paper house construction
Steps of paper house construction
Other features
The design criterion was an inexpensive structure, that could be built by anyone, with
reasonable amount of light and ventilation and at least acceptable appearance.
The beer crates, rented from the local manufacturer, were also used as stairs during the
construction process.
Self adhesive waterproof tape was applied in the space between the paper tube.
The roofing material is not attached to the tubular elements so that the ends can remain
open, to provide ventilation in summer, or closed off, to conserve warm air in winter
Advantages
Made from materials available nearby
site

No skilled labour required; All that is

needed an instruction manual

Decent housing with effective cost

Easy execution of task

Fast process of assembling the parts

Each element can be reused

Does not require a great deal of

preplanned storage

The paper tubes can be manufactured

on site.
Other humanitarian works
Other humanitarian works
Other humanitarian works
Conclusion
Architectural intelligence makes a difference by considering whole environments and not
only single issues. Spatial organization in this situation implies the integration of
temporary structures into existing social and economic contexts .

There was much more coordination with the people in need than simply providing
them with a short-term place to stay, but was able to provide them hope and bring
order to the devastation.
The people became involved in the construction process and created a place to feel
safe and maintain independence by using the materials and innovations that already
existed around them.
Shigeru Bans Paper Log House has also been compared to innovative approaches to
emergency shelter design. He shows us one approach to a very specific problem: what
to do with hundreds of thousands of people left stranded with no home.
Through the visceral appeal, these structures have a simple and inviting atmosphere,
and the way they are clustered together creates a tight-knit sense of community.
They are also unfinished looking in a way, and are visually not what we might be used
to seeing. However, considering these structures exist mainly in devastated or poor
areas of the world, it is very likely that those cultures view them differently.
On a behavioral level, the Paper Log Houses serve a specific purpose, and this is taken
into account subconsciously when viewing the buildings, obviously appearing stable
and creating a safe atmosphere.
References

T.R. Reid, National Geographic, July 1995

http://www.archdaily.com/489255/the-humanitarian-works-of-shigeru-ban

http://www.archdaily.com/792108/spotlight-shigeru-ban

http://www.coolgeography.co.uk/GCSE/AQA/Restless%20Earth/Earthquakes/Kobe
.htm