The Cardboard Cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban opened to the public on August 6 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The building was designed by Shigeru Ban as a temporary replacement for the city's former Anglican cathedral, which was destroyed by the earthquake that struck the city in February 2011. With an expected lifespan of around 50 years, it will serve the community until a more permanent cathedral can be constructed. The building features a triangular profile constructed from 98 equally sized cardboard tubes. These surround a colored glass window made from tessellating triangles, decorated with images from the original cathedral's rose window. The main hall has the capacity to accommodate up to 700 people for events and concerts, plus eight steel shipping containers house chapels and storage areas below. The construction of cathedral began last year. The cathedral had initially been scheduled to open in February, but was subject to a series of construction delays. "The strength of the building has nothing to do with the strength of the material," told architect. Even concrete buildings can be destroyed by earthquakes very easily. But paper buildings cannot be destroyed by earthquakes. It's also consistently low-cost. Shigeru Ban has used cardboard on a number of pavilions and structures in recent years, particularly on disaster relief projects. Other examples include a temporary gallery in Moscow with cardboard columns and a cardboard pavilion at the IE School of Architecture and Design in Madrid.

Christchurch New Zealand will be the home of one of the world's most bizarre building projects of 2012, a Cathedral made from cardboard. According to Church official website, work will start next week on a US$ 4.1 million temporary "Cardboard Cathedral" in Christchurch city center to replace the cathedral which was irreversibly damaged in last year's earthquake. The Cathedral will be fashioned from cardboard tubes, as well as timber beams and structural steel, and is expected to last 20 years. It is the largest "emergency structure" to be designed by Shigeru Ban who, with the support of associate architect Yoshie Narimatsu, has contributed his time free of charge and gifted the building's design to the cathedral, Anglican Diocese and city. Ban, known as "an emergency architect" who has built temporary houses in post-disaster centers, including Japan, Turkey, China, Italy, and Haiti said cardboard was the ideal building product for the new cathedral. "The strength of the building has nothing to do with the strength of the material," he said. Even concrete buildings can be destroyed by earthquakes very easily. But paper buildings cannot be destroyed by earthquakes. It's also consistently low-cost. Normally after disasters the price of building materials goes higher, but since this is not a traditional building material, it's very easy to get. Holmes Consulting structural engineer Jamie McGregor is pleased to be taking part in the construction. "It's not hard to motivate yourself. It's very exciting too to be involved in something like this, it's a great building it's going to be really cool. This thing's 25 meter high and it's very light so there are a lot of issues to work through, in terms of the construction method," Mr McGregor says. "It's going to take everything we've got I think." As for the old cathedral, it's still sitting half torn down in the city center. The High Court's due to make a decision on its fate next month. The Christchurch cardboard Cathedral is in inventive and inspirational project which has the potential to become an iconic landmark for Christchurch's imminent recovery.