The American Institute of Architects (AIA) announced on Thursday, December 4, 2025, that architect Shigeru Ban is the recipient of the 2026 AIA Gold Medal. The award is the AIA's highest individual honor, recognizing individuals whose work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. On this occasion, the Japanese architect's work was highlighted for its inventive use of renewable materials such as paper and timber, his innovation in timber architecture, his commitment to social service through design, and his 30 years as an educator at universities including Harvard, Cornell, and Columbia. Previous honorees include Deborah Berke, the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture, in 2025; David Lake and Ted Flato of the San Antonio–based practice Lake|Flato in 2024; and civic design leader Carol Ross Barney in 2023.
On this occasion, the AIA highlighted Shigeru Ban's "pioneering use of humble, renewable materials, particularly paper and timber," and how "what began as an effort to minimize waste in exhibition design evolved into a revolutionary structural system." Around the time of founding his own practice in Tokyo, Shigeru Ban Architects, in 1985, he also worked as a curator at Axis Gallery, where he designed exhibitions for Emilio Ambasz, Alvar Aalto, and Judith Turner. During the Aalto exhibition, he first developed the paper-tube structures that would later become his signature. From temporary disaster relief shelters to permanent applications such as the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, the AIA highlighted how this material exploration "demonstrates how inexpensive, recyclable materials can create elegant and resilient structures."
From a material perspective, the honor also notes how the architect's philosophy "has driven groundbreaking innovations in mass timber architecture." Favoring an architecture of fewer components and minimized dependence on high-tech solutions, and guided by a preference for low–embedded carbon materials, the architect's portfolio includes structures that push the limits of timber through fluid forms and precise structural solutions. The AIA highlighted this approach in Shigeru Ban Architects' Swatch and Omega Campus, completed in 2019 in Biel, Switzerland, which showcases a variety of post-and-beam and gridshell structures. According to the organization, the building was constructed using 160,000 cubic feet of Swiss wood, making it one of the largest mass timber projects globally. This volume of wood could be regrown domestically in just 10 hours, representing approximately 0.1 percent of Switzerland's annual timber production.
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"I Am Disappointed in Architects" Shigeru Ban on Socially Conscious Architecture in Louisiana Channel InterviewBeyond these structures, the architect's material exploration is also tied to a vision of service. In 1995, following the Kobe earthquake in southern Japan, he founded the Voluntary Architects' Network (VAN), an NGO dedicated to providing disaster relief worldwide. The AIA highlighted VAN's completion of more than 50 projects in 23 countries, from paper log houses for refugees in Rwanda and Maui to privacy partitions for Ukrainian refugees, as a reflection of Shigeru Ban's belief that architectural skills should not be reserved for the privileged. In line with this vision, his role as an educator was also highlighted, noting that "he empowers students through hands-on building, often involving them in VAN projects, and demonstrating that architecture can be a powerful form of service."
The AIA Board of Directors and Strategic Council select the winners of this program. Finalists were chosen by a team of professionals forming the 2026 Gold Medal Advisory Jury. The jury was chaired by Angela Brooks of Brooks + Scarpa Architects, Inc., and included Clark S. Brockman of Brockman Climate Strategies LLC; Graciela Carrillo of Nassau BOCES Facilities Services; Kathy D. Dixon of K. Dixon Architecture, PLLC; Heather G. Holdridge, Assoc., of Lake|Flato Architects; Beresford Pratt of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Cory T. Rouillard of Henson Architecture; and Vikram Sami of Olson Kundig.
Shigeru Ban revolutionized architecture with renewable materials like paper and timber, creating resilient, sustainable designs like disaster shelters and the Cardboard Cathedral. As an educator for over 30 years, he empowers students through hands-on projects, showcasing architecture's potential for sustainability and service.
Other recent honors in the field of architecture include the recognition of Egyptian architect Abdelwahed El-Wakil as the recipient of the 2025 Tamayouz Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the selection of Mexico City–based landscape architect Mario Schjetnan and his firm, Grupo de Diseño Urbano (GDU), as recipients of the 2025 Oberlander Prize. In addition, the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction has announced the Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Holcim Awards, selecting one project from each global region to represent the most impactful approaches to sustainable design in this cycle, while the European Cultural Centre (ECC) has announced the winners of the ECC Awards 2025, selected from participants in the seventh edition of the Time Space Existence exhibition in Venice.
