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A Ukrainian evacuee rests in a partition designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban using a cardboard tube frame at a shelter in Chełm, Poland, on March 13.(Contributed by Jerzy Latka)
A famous Japanese architect whose innovative work on paper products helped survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 is now helping Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
When the Ukrainians began to evacuate their homes, Ban, 64, learned from media reports that they were sleeping on rollaway beds in cramped shelters without any privacy, and he felt compelled to help.
“They are called evacuees, but they are ordinary people like us,” he said.”They are with their families, like a natural disaster survivor after an emergency. But the big difference is that the Ukrainian evacuees are not with their husbands or their fathers. Ukrainian men are basically banned from leaving the country. Sad. ”
After building temporary housing in disaster-hit areas around the world, from Japan to Turkey and China, Pan stayed in the eastern Polish city of Chełm from March 11 to March 13 to put his expertise to use in affordable, sustainable and Make your own shelter from easy-to-use materials.
Modeled after the facility he set up at a shelter for survivors of the 2011 earthquake, volunteers set up a series of cardboard tubes in the shelter where Russia took refuge after the invasion of Ukraine.
These tubes are used to drape curtains that separate spaces, such as makeshift cubicles or hospital bed dividers.
The partition system uses cardboard tubes for pillars and beams.The tubes are like those usually used to roll up fabric or paper, but are much longer – about 2 meters long.
The simple contribution brought a lost precious comfort to evacuees crammed under one large roof: time for yourself.
“Natural disasters, whether it’s earthquakes or floods, will subside at some point after you evacuate (from the area). However, this time around, we don’t know when the war will end,” Pan said.”So, I think their mentality is very different from that of natural disaster survivors.”
He was told that in one place, a Ukrainian woman who had been putting on a brave face burst into tears as she entered one of the separate spaces.
“I think once she’s in a place where her privacy is protected, her nervousness will ease,” he said.”It shows how tough you are for her.”
The sanctuary space initiative started when Ban Ki-moon told a Polish architect friend he had the idea of putting up clapboards for Ukrainian evacuees.His friend replied that they should do it as soon as possible.
The Polish architect contacted a manufacturer of cardboard tubes in Poland, which agreed to suspend all other work to produce tubes free of charge for the evacuees.Through contacts from Polish architects, it was decided to set up Ban’s zoning system in a shelter in CheÅ‚m, 25 km west of the Ukrainian border.
The evacuees arrived in Chelm by train and stayed there temporarily before being transferred to shelters in other areas.
The team divided the former supermarket into 319 zoned spaces, one of which could accommodate two to six evacuees.
About 20 students from the Wroclaw University of Technology set up these partitions.Their Polish professor was even a former student of Ban’s at a university in Kyoto.
Usually, when Pan works in remote areas, he visits the construction site himself to learn about the local situation, mentor those involved and, if necessary, speak to local politicians.
But this time, the work went so quickly and easily that such field work was unnecessary.
“There’s a manual on how to set up clapboards that any architect can use to assemble them,” Ban said. “I thought I’d set it up with the locals and give them directions at the same time. But it wasn’t even necessary.
“They’re very comfortable with these partitions,” Ban said, adding that he believes privacy is something humans inherently desire and need.
His zoning system was also established at a railway station in Wroclaw, the city where Ban’s former student taught at the university.That one provides 60 partition space.
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Post time: May-10-2022