Christchurch is Thinking of Replacing Its Earthquake-Ravaged Church with a Cardboard Cathedral

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 15:00 in Earth & Climate

The Cardboard Cathedral Shigeru Ban Architects via Yahoo Real Estate The Bible has at least a little to say about how to construct a building, but mostly in Proverbs and mostly not having anything to do actually building a structure (metaphor!). So without rock solid instructions, officials overseeing the Christchurch Cathedral--the one in Christchurch, New Zealand, that was all but leveled in February's 6.3-magnitude earthquake--plan to build a 700-seat cardboard cathedral as a temporary replacement. Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is heading up the design effort, which is currently in the midst of a $50,000 feasibility study. If the plan is approved, Ban plans to erect a massive 78-foot-high A-frame cathedral from cardboard tubes that will sit upon a foundation of 20-foot shipping containers (and we're pretty positive that building plan is nowhere in the Good Book). Don't be misled by the term "temporary." This structure is meant to serve as a stand-in...

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