DEVELOPMENT REPORT - 'Paper Architect' Pens Creative Solutio

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - 'Paper Architect' Pens Creative Solutions for Refugee Housing
By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, May 23, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Shigeru Ban is called the "paper architect." Mister Ban is an architect in Tokyo known for his designs of temporary shelters made of paper. Many of his designs, such as the "Paper Log House," are built with used cardboard tubes.

Mister Ban designed such houses for people in Kobe, Japan, after the nineteen ninety-five earthquake there. He also designed a community gathering² place. More recently, his paper houses provided shelter for people in Turkey and India after earthquakes hit those countries.

Shigeru Ban also has worked with the United Nations to create housing for refugees in Rwanda. And he has established a non-governmental organization called the Volunteer Architects' Network. Members design buildings for free to help deal with housing shortages and poor living conditions around the world.

In April, the University of Virginia honored Mister Ban. He received the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture. The school recognized him for his humanitarian³ efforts, environmental concerns and creative use of building materials.

Shigeru Ban does not just work with paper. He also works with bamboo, wood and other materials. His next project is in Sri Lanka. The plan is to build one hundred houses for people who lost their homes in the tsunami⁴ waves last December. The houses will be built with locally made blocks formed from earth.

Mister Ban does not just design houses. One of his works is a temporary space with walls formed from one hundred forty-eighty shipping⁵ containers. These steel containers are normally used to transport goods. Huge paper tubes support a roof over the structure.

Shigeru Ban designed the space as a museum for a traveling art show by New York photographer Gregory Colbert. Mister Colbert wanted an unusual place to show his collection of large pictures of animals interacting with humans and nature. The show is called "Ashes and Snow"; the structure is the Nomadic⁶ Museum.

The Nomadic Museum is at Pier⁷ fifty-four in New York City until June sixth. Next stop is the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California. As the show travels, the shipping containers for the walls will be found locally. Organizers say additional stops are planned in the United States, Europe and Asia.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.  I'm Gwen Outen.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

7 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。