<p>Paper Tower</p>

In 1951, a festival celebrating the nation called the Festival of Britain took place in Great Britain. The centerpiece of the festival was a 90-meter-high structure called Skylon, rising along the promenade of London’s South Bank. The work of architects Hidalga Moya and Philip Powell, with engineering assistance from Felix Samuely, was an expression of the timelessness of architectural art.
In 2009, to mark the occasion of the London Design Festival and its sub-project, the Size + Matter project, architect Shigeru Ban, in collaboration with the paper company Sonoco Alcore and with support from other entities (Southbank Centre, Event Concept), created a conical structure 22 meters tall. The object was positioned at a busy pedestrian link between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Station, at the back of the Royal Festival Hall.
The object was made up of paper tubes arranged into triangular elements. The joints were secured with metal clamps. The weight and stability of the structure were ensured by massive concrete blocks that formed a circular base for the installation.
The object was installed from September 18 to October 15, 2009. This experimental object, which was also developed in collaboration with the engineering firm Arup, with a height of 22 meters, was among the tallest paper buildings in the world and also highlighted the diverse possibilities of paper structures applied in architecture.