Nearly two years after the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, asked modernist Shigeru Ban, known cardboard extraordinaire and earthquake-relief pro, to build an all-cardboard, quake-proof cathedral to temporarily replace the 1864 Anglican cathedral destroyed in a February 2011 earthquake, construction has officially wrapped on the cardboard A-frame. Expected to withstand about 50 years of weather and wear, Cardboard Cathedral is meant to be a stand-in for the community while another cathedral—you know, one not made 98 cardboard tubes—is built.
The great hall, with room for up to 700 people, is decked primarily by triangular glass windows, imbued with the images from the original cathedral's façade. The first service will be this Sunday.
· Shigeru Ban Completes Cardboard Cathedral [Dezeen]
· All Shigeru Ban posts [Curbed National]