Quake-proof cathedral made of cardboard unveiled

[theHandpuppet]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24058-quakeproof-cathedral-made-of-cardboard-unveiled.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news#.UhH_ZK_D-M9

The New York Times
Quake-proof cathedral made of cardboard unveiled
Updated 11:21 19 August 2013 by Michael Slezak

You'll never look the same way at what lies at the centre of a toilet roll. Last week a $6 million "cardboard cathedral" was formally unveiled in Christchurch, New Zealand, replacing the building destroyed by the devastating 2011 earthquake.

Made from 98 giant cardboard tubes, the new Transitional Cathedral will hold 700 worshippers and is designed to last for up to 50 years. The tubes are coated with three layers of waterproof polyurethane and most are sheltered by the polycarbonate roof, which is translucent and so glows when the cathedral is lit at night.

The cathedral was designed by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect who has been building with cardboard since 1986. Since then, Ban has designed everything from an art museum in Metz, France, to emergency accommodation following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

He says the new cathedral is earthquake-proof, fireproof and won't get soggy in the rain. "The strength of the materials is unrelated to the strength of the building," he told the Japan Times. "The first time I used paper was for an interior, but I realised it was strong enough to be used as a structural element – to actually hold up the building." He says wood and paper can withstand quakes that would destroy concrete structures.... MORE

(Photo at link above.)

[MADem]

1. It's nice....the church it replaced, though, was an architectural delight.

[Warpy]

2. Built, unfortunately, to suit Europe and not NZ

The wrong sort of building plus an earthquake zone make an unfortunate combination. The worst damaged building in last week's quake was a cement house. Rigid construction doesn't work. It all needs to flex and twist.

Frame houses survived quite nicely, although with a mess of broken dishes and food from the fridge all over the kitchen floor and pictures shaken off the walls.

[MADem]

3. Pity they couldn't pull it apart, stone by stone, like the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum,

and rebuild it on a platform with those pogo stick supports drilled into the bedrock. That way, it isn't connected to the earth and there are fewer stressors on the building.

I lived in a house with supports like that in CA, and survived the Loma Prieta quake with not much damage. It did bounce a bit, but it did so evenly! No cracks or twists!