Cardboard cathedral

A $4.1 million “cardboard cathedral” will temporarily replace New Zealand’s earthquake-damaged Christchurch Cathedral.

Designed by Japanese “emergency architect” Shigeru Ban, the transitional 82-foot-high cathedral is being constructed with 104 tubes of cardboard as well as timber beams, structural steel and a concrete pad. It is expected to be completed by December 2012. The recyclable $4.1 million structure will seat 700 people and be used for 10 years.

The cathedral will become the worship centre for St. John’s parish, whose church properties had to be demolished after the earthquake on Feb. 22, 2011.