A renowned Japanese architect has brought an example of a quick-build home for displaced fire survivors to Maui.

Shigeru Ban, who is known for building emergency housing using recyclable paper tubes for disaster survivors worldwide — from Japan to Rwanda, Turkey and New Zealand — was in Hawaii last week to help build a prototype at Rinzai Zen Mission in Paia, Maui.

“We wanted everyone to see the possibility of it,” said Yayoi Hara of the Lahaina Jodo Mission, “which is why it’s so exciting.”

Hara and her sister Maya, daughters of the mission’s Rev. Gensho Hara, invited Ban to Maui because they believe the homes offer a sustainable solution during a time of crisis.

The 20-by-12-foot home is constructed from cardboard paper tubes that form its structural frame, along with plywood for the floor and walls. It has a covered roof and a few windows, and sits atop a foundation of weighed-down crates.

The missions collaborated with Ban and his nonprofit Volunteer Architects’ Network, local firm Hawaii Off Grid Architecture and Engineering, Pacific Millworks and the University of Hawaii to build the home in just three days.

Hara said many fire survivors are still seeking stability and a place to live without the constant anxiety of not knowing when they have to move again or being shuffled from one hotel room to another.

While the county has proposed tax incentives for short-term vacation rental owners to rent to survivors long term, and other shelter projects are in the works, progress has been slow.

“The reality is, I think, for a lot of people on the grassroots level — we’re motivated to come up with solutions,” said Hara, “because the county’s response has lacked urgency to provide displaced families with stability so we can begin the long road of recovery.”

She understands this firsthand, as she and her parents lost their longtime family home, along with the historic Buddhist temple at Lahaina, to the fires on Aug. 8.

On that fateful afternoon, Hara watched as a cloud of smoke approached their home.

At the time, she thought sheltering in place was the best choice, given that the 2.8-acre grounds had a large, grassy area next to the ocean.

But as winds intensified and embers rained down, she looked at her parents and the residents and decided they needed to evacuate immediately.

She was going to stay, but her 8-year-old daughter refused to leave without her. In that moment she gave in, jumped in the car and left with the others.

Hours later the fire would take at least 100 lives and burn down virtually all of Lahaina town, leveling pretty much every structure at the mission, including eight rental units for low-income families.

The mission’s bronze bell and 12-foot Amida Buddha statue are all that remain.

For Hara the No. 1 long-term issue fire survivors are grappling with is housing, but she is concerned with how to build it without putting more waste in the landfill. After searching, Ban’s quick-build, low-cost solution seemed like a good fit for Hawaii.

Maya Hara reached out to Ban in mid-October, and he responded immediately.

Ban arrived Dec. 4 with 11 of his architecture students, who hit the ground running. They had lunch, then got to work and, with some help from UH architecture students, completed the prototype by late Wednesday.

Ban, a Pritzker Prize winner, also spoke Thursday evening at UH Manoa’s School of Architecture.

“The beauty of this design is the materials are inexpensive and readily available,” said Hara.

It is simple yet functional, and easy to assemble and take apart, she said, and can easily be expanded. A local contractor can add a bathroom or small kitchen.

Afterward, the materials can be recycled or upcycled — or, in some instances, relocated to another site.

Yayoi Hara said it offers an example of what can be accomplished, and she hopes county officials will grant needed permits for the project.

To see it completed so quickly, she said, was uplifting, giving her a sense of hope.

At a TEDx talk in Tokyo, Ban said he felt compelled as an architect to design homes for people in the wake of disasters around the world, rather than just for the privileged.

He began testing recyclable paper tubes as a potential building material in the mid-’80s to avoid industrial waste, before sustainability became hip. He found they were stronger than expected, easy to waterproof and possible to fireproof.

The Maui prototype is based on a “paper log house” Ban created earlier for earthquake survivors in Turkey, Morocco and other parts of Asia.

For a competition in Korea, he showcased this same house but used “hanji,” or traditional Korean paper, in honeycomb boards for the door and windows. Each home can be adapted to a particular place.

Ban has also built other structures based on paper tubes, including an elaborate expo pavilion, a school and churches.

In 2013 he built a temporary cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, capable of holding 700 occupants out of paper tubes and 20-foot shipping containers, following an earthquake there. The cathedral’s high, triangular ceiling, accentuated by a stained-glass window, allows in plenty of natural light.

Some structures, meant to be temporary, still stand, as is the case with the “paper dome” church built after the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, that has since been relocated to Taiwan, where it has become a tourist attraction.

The Haras said Ban plans to return to help them rebuild the temple and community center at Lahaina Jodo Mission, once debris has been officially cleared away.

“He feels like after a disaster one of the main things the community needs is to be able to come together,” said Yayoi Hara. “Really, he’s so creative in his solutions. He really is looking at post-­disaster relief on a very human level.”

SHIGERU BAN ‘PAPER TUBE HOME’ PROJECT

>> To view the prototype at Rinzai Zen Mission, make an appointment by contacting Kosen Haga, monk.sen@rinzai-maui.org.

>> Donations for the project can be made to the Voluntary Architects’ Network, a nongovernmental organization, at shigerubanarchitects.com/ donations.