A finely crafted timber office building for a Swiss media company makes a strong statement from within.

On September 1, 2013, the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, had its Civic Opening. Measuring 8,611-square-feet, it is the latest and the largest paper tube structure designed by the Japanese architect and the world’s go-to guy for emergency buildings, Shigeru Ban. Located within the city’s decimated central business district, Ban’s building is a temporary replacement for Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral, a Gothic style structure built in the 19th century but damaged beyond repair by the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that shook the city in February 2011. Inspired by the original building, the Cardboard Cathedral is trapezoidal in plan and triangular in