Shigeru Ban’s recyclable museum.
Made of shipping containers and paper tubes, the Nomadic Museum takes the concept of itinerant exhibition to the limit, because not only the works are moved from place to place, but also the building.
Photo: © Michael Moran (OTTO)
In the year 2000, the Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert told Shigeru Ban about his idea of building a mobile museum to display his work around the world, and after the success of this exhibition ‘Ashes and Snow’ at the Venice Biennale in 2002 he managed to obtain financing. The first location of the project was Pier 54 in New York and later it was taken to other cities like Santa Monica or Tokyo.
Photo: © Michael Moran (OTTO)
The containers are stacked in two parallel rows measuring 205 m long and between them a colonnade of paper tubes supports the triangular truss that forms the roof. To reduce the weight, the volumes are arranged with a checkerboard pattern and the voids are covered with membranes placed diagonally to increase the expressiveness of the facade.
Because the dimensions are standardized, the containers can be rented in every location and the paper supports can be recycled and manufactured again, so only the membrane and roof structure need to be transported.
Photo: © Michael Moran (OTTO)
In this pavilion, two types of gallery spaces are requested: a gallery to hang large photos and a multi-purpose space. The front part of the pavilion, called the Container Gallery, is defined by two parallel walls each approximately 10 meters high. Each wall is made in a checker-board composition using 10 feet shipping containers, whereby 40 feet long shipping containers rest atop the two walls as cross beams to cover the gallery space below.
About the Author:
Bruno Dursin – Managing Director at Believe in Steel. Bruno has more than 30 years of experience in promoting steel & steel solutions. His clients benefit from his extensive network within the building industry.
