Shigeru Ban is building quake-proof homes from rubble in Nepal

Building strong: Construction workers giving the final touches to a prototype house in Nepal designed by Ban in this photo taken in October. Photo: Reuters

After twin earthquakes in April and May last year claimed 9,000 lives and left vast swathes of Nepal in ruins, survivors worried if they reused the brick rubble, they would end up with the same vulnerable, seismically unsound structures.

Renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban – who helped bring global attention to humanitarian architecture and continues to influence fellow architects and disaster-relief workers – devised a solution.