Shigeru Ban

produced in collaboration with Artek and UPM Finland

Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Palazzo dell Arte, Milan, April 18-23, 2007
Helsinki, August 24-September 23, 2007
Design Miami, Miami, December 7-9, 2007

Peter Davey, "Paper Palace:  Shigeru Ban designs a Paper Pavilion," Architectural Review, September 2000, pp. 58-60  
Matilda McQuaid, Shigeru Ban, London, 2003, pp. 5, 14, 30, 60-67, 152-153
Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne, The Green House  New Directions in Sustainable Architecture, New York, 2005, pp. 85-89
Douglas Davis, "Museum of a Third Kind," Art in America, June/July 2005, pp. 75-79
Juhani Pallasmaa and Tomoko Sato, Alvar Aalto:  Through the Eyes of Shigeru Ban, London, 2007, pp. 68, 72, 73, 84, 97, 146-149
Michael Webb, "Pod Life:  His Largest Building to Date, Shigeru Ban's new Library is a bold Celebration of Structure," The Architectural Review, February 2007, p. 60
Jeremy Melvin, "A is for Aalto," Apollo, May 2007, p. 83
Francesca Picchi, "Resurrezione materica/Material resurrection," Domus, May 2007, pp. 126-131
Michael Kimmelman, Waste Not:  The Accidental Environmentalist, The New York Times Magazine, May 20, 2007, pp. 68-75
Paul Finch, "View," Architectural Review, June 2007, p. 32
Alex Coles, "Pavilions," Art Monthly, July-August 2007, pp. 1-3
Mason Currey, "UPM ProFi:  Shigeru Ban and Artek Pioneer the Architecture of Recycled Sticky Labels," Metropolis, September 2007, pp. 104
Alice Rawsthorn, "Out of the Woods," The New York Times Magazine, October 21, 2007, pp. 98-103

Thank you for your interest in the Artek Pavilion. Please contact Megan Whippen in the 20th Century Design department if you are interested in receiving the limited edition Artek Pavilion catalogue or would like to discuss the history and further details of this unique offering. This lot is available for viewing in Long Island City, New York. Please note that this lot is not currently assembled. Therefore, we cannot provide a formal condition report. Please contact the 20th Century Design department for an appointment to view and inspect this work in its current disassembled state. Artek will provide a manual to the purchaser with detailed instructions on how to assemble the structure. This lot will be available for pick-up after the sale until June 30, 2008, from the Gander and White Shipping Ltd. warehouse located at 21- 44 44th Road, Long Island City, New York, 11101. Thereafter, you shall be liable to Gander and White for the payment of all storage and insurance charges at its standard rates. The lot does not include the furniture or other materials shown in the installation photographs in the catalogue. Megan Whippen 212-606-7170 megan.whippen@sothebys.com
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Artek Pavilion was designed by Shigeru Ban for installation at the 2007 Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.  This prefabricated modular pavilion was commissioned by Artek, the Finnish furniture company, in collaboration with UPM, one of world's leading forest products groups, as a mobile exhibition space.  

 

Artek, founded in 1935 by four Finnish visionaries, including Alvar Aalto, combines the ideology of its creators with a contemporary approach to product design.  Shigeru Ban was first introduced to Aalto's designs and theories in the mid-1980s when he organized an exhibition of the designer's work.  Aalto has remained a significant influence in the development of Ban's personal approach to architecture and space. 

 

Created in 2007, the Artek Pavilion is a prefabricated structure designed for re-use and mobility.  The Pavilion was created using one material:  an extruded profile out of wood plastic composite, UPM ProFi, made primarily from recycled materials.  The principle raw materials for this recycled product are self-adhesive label materials made of paper and plastic.

 

The architecture of the pavilion was conceived on a structural-unit concept, repeated multiple times, forming an elongated exhibition space.  The pavilion was designed to be re-assembled, and the elements were pre-built and constructed in Finland. One module of the pavilion, which consists of a roof, wall and structural elements, is approximately two meters long; this module is repeated twenty times.  The entire pavilion is forty meters long and five meters wide and can be easily taken down and re-assembled.  This nomadic structure, an unconventional piece of ecological innovation with elegant beauty, exemplifies Artek's commitment to sustainable development and highlights the dialogue between design, architecture and art.

 

The Artek Pavilion is not a fully enclosed structure and is open at both ends, which introduces a controlled amount of the outside world to the interior space.  Ban's architectural elements ease the transition between the interior and exterior spaces through the use of natural light and lines of sight directed to the open ends of the structure.  This open plan and transparent paneling are characteristic of many of Ban's noteworthy designs, including the renowned Naked House.

 

The Pavilion was commissioned for installation at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan in 2007 by Artek in collaboration with UPM.  The structure was then shown outside of Helsinki's Design Museum during the summer of 2007, and finally as a satellite exhibition of Design Miami in December 2007.

 

Shigeru Ban is an internationally recognized architect known for his distinct approach to both commercial and residential structures.   Ban has been widely acclaimed for the both the greenness of his architecture and his dedication to the social responsibility of the architect.

 

Born in Japan, Ban received his formal training in the United States.  In his architectural designs one can recognize his distinct Japanese stylistic sensibilities, as well as the influence of his American architectural training.

 

Early in his career, in 1986, Ban began to introduce alternative resources as the primary elements of his buildings.  Ban's choice to use simple and re-useable materials is both aesthetic as well as pragmatic.  His first experiment with paper tubing as a primary construction material was the result of financial constraints when constructing an exhibition of Alvar Aalto's work at the Axis Gallery in Tokyo.  Since then, his structures have been created from such diverse materials as paper, wood, bamboo and high performance composites. 

 

Ban's design for the Nomadic Museum in 2005 installed at Pier 54 in New York City received high praise for its unusual selection of materials.  This floating structure consisted of 148 shipping containers and a ceiling made from one million pressed tea bags.  Created as an adaptable exhibition space, the Nomadic Museum was a realization of Ban's goal that transportable and functional materials be used to create artistically progressive and dynamic constructions.

 

As a prefabricated structure designed in a modular format for a similar function, the Artek Pavilion is able to be taken apart, reassembled, and shortened, if necessary, to accommodate the terrain or needs of the client.  The adaptiveness of the structure and mobility are an integral element of Ban's concept of the advantages afforded by prefabricated architecture.

 

The Artek pavilion is a structure that embodies the historic concept of the pavilion form, the environmental consciousness inherent in Ban's work and the two Finnish companies' dedication to sustainability.  As a "Green" strategy has become part of the global economy, Artek and UPM have joined Ban in creating a structure that speaks to the possibilities of utilizing a basic recycled material: self-adhesive labels. 

 

The Artek Pavilion is being offered on behalf of Proventus, the majority owner of Artek.  Since its inception, Proventus has carried out more than 70 active investments in a variety of industries, markets and contexts.  Proventus is engaged in the arts through its support of the restoration of Alvar Aalto's Maison Louis Carré in France and the Israeli based Batsheva Dance Company to which a portion of the proceeds of the sale will be donated. 

 

 

"Artek always was a company that was interested in more than just furniture design.  It's very name is a truncation of Art & Technology, and from its inception in 1935, Artek explored notions of the creation of building products, international alliances with likeminded retailers and curation of modernist art, architecture and photography exhibitions.

The task of re-introducing this pioneering spirit started a few years back with an exploration into the industrialization of natural materials, working first in bamboo, and then investigating into possibility of using extrusion in recycled paper and plastic which led to our fortuitous meetings both with UPM and with Shigeru Ban. The genius of Ban was to conceive of a building using only the two existing extrusions (L-section and decking profile) to build structural elements, the walls, roofs and floors, resulting in a building of complete integrity and purity.  The modular factory-based manufacturing allows for an extremely efficient assembly on site, and a flexibility in use which is rare in architecture.

Suggested uses that came from the visitors in Miami and Milan ranged from sculpture studio to classic car garage, from garden centre to chapel, demonstrating the absolute versatility of the design, and the potential that the pavilion clearly has to adapt itself to multi-functionalities beyond its original purpose.  The quality that appeals the most to me, however, is the demonstration of the power of human imagination, where for one person a pile of scrap paper becomes rubbish, and for another it has the potential to make furniture, buildings or even whole cities...."
Tom Dixon, Creative Director, Artek

 

 

 

This lot is available for viewing in Long Island City, New York.  Please note that this lot is not currently assembled.  Please contact the 20^th Century Design department for an appointment to view and inspect this work in its current disassembled state.  Artek will provide a manual to the purchaser with detailed instructions on how to assemble the structure.

 

This lot will be available for pick-up after the sale until June 30, 2008, from the Gander and White Shipping Ltd. warehouse located at 21- 44 44^th Road, Long Island City, New York, 11101.  Thereafter, you shall be liable to Gander and White for the payment of all storage and insurance charges at its standard rates. 

 

The lot does not include the furniture or other materials shown in the installation photographs in this catalogue.