Born in Tokyo in 1957, Ban graduated from the Cooper Union with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1984. He founded Shigeru Ban Architects in 1985 and later established offices in New York and Paris.

Since 1985, Ban has developed a unique structural system using recycled paper as a building material and, alongside his architectural work, has been engaged in disaster relief efforts worldwide. In 1995, he founded a nonprofit organization named Voluntary Architects’ Network (VAN).

He is the recipient of le grade de commandeur of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (2014), the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2014), the Mother Teresa Social Justice Award (2017), the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord (2022), and the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (2024). His major works include Centre Pompidou Metz (2010, France), Cardboard Cathedral (2013, NZ), La Seine Musicale (2017, France), Mt. Fuji World Heritage Centre Shizuoka (2017, France), Tainan Art Museum (2019), SIMOSE (2023), and Toyota City Museum (2024).

From 2023 he serves as Special Guest Professor at Shibaura Institute of Technology. In March 2025, he was named as a new member of the Japan Art Academy and in October 2025 as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese Government.

For his architectural, cultural, and humanitarian contributions, Ban has been honored as a Pritzker Laureate, and the recipient of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the National Order of the Legion of Honor in France, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, and the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

He has been awarded as the recipient of the 2026 AIA Gold Medal as the fourth to receive this honor among Japanese architects.