Shigeru Ban Architects has broken ground on a 1,600-square-foot Center for Community in Altadena, commissioned by Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) as part of Los Angeles’ long-term wildfire recovery strategy. Framed by a vaulted timber structure and supported by repurposed shipping containers, the project emphasizes speed, cost efficiency, and minimal waste. Designed to house mental health services, workshops, and neighborhood programming, the center is expected to be completed within two to three months at an estimated cost of $300,000.
A new community landmark is taking shape in Altadena. Designed by Shigeru Ban Architects, the forthcoming Center for Community has officially broken ground along Lincoln Avenue. The 1,600-square-foot facility is envisioned as a hub for healing, learning, and gathering in the wake of the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Commissioned by the humanitarian organization Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), the project forms a central piece of the group’s long-term wildfire recovery initiative. Once completed, the center will host mental health services, educational workshops, and neighborhood programming—providing both practical support and a renewed sense of belonging for residents rebuilding their lives.
An Architecture of Speed, Economy, and Care
The design is characteristic of Shigeru Ban’s long-standing commitment to humanitarian architecture. A vaulted timber-beamed hall defines the building’s primary volume, flanked on both sides by repurposed shipping containers that provide structural support and enclosed service spaces. The composition balances warmth and pragmatism: exposed wood framing creates an uplifting interior atmosphere, while the container elements allow for efficient, modular construction.
Every aspect of the scheme has been shaped by urgency and responsibility. The team anticipates a construction timeline of just two to three months, with an estimated budget of approximately $300,000. The strategy emphasizes rapid deployment, reduced material waste, and cost-conscious building methods—principles that have become synonymous with Ban’s disaster-response work worldwide.
A Continuing Commitment to Los Angeles
“In 2025, our team responded to the L.A. wildfires with Paper Partition Systems at the Westwood Recreation Center in Santa Monica and collaborated with SCI-Arc to fabricate, construct, and exhibit a Paper Log House for Los Angeles,” said Shigeru Ban, who was recently honored with the 2026 AIA Gold Medal. “This year, we look forward to celebrating the opening of the Altadena Community Center in partnership with CORE—a project grounded in community and dedicated to supporting the City of Angels. As our firm’s first project in Los Angeles, I am eager to see it serve those who need it most.”
The new center marks an important milestone for Shigeru Ban Architects in Southern California, extending the firm’s global portfolio of socially responsive projects that prioritize dignity, resilience, and material innovation.
Context: Rebuilding After Unprecedented Loss
The urgency of the project reflects the scale of devastation left by the January 2025 wildfires. More than 18,000 homes and structures were destroyed across Los Angeles County, with at least 30 lives lost and over 200,000 residents forced to evacuate. Total property damage estimates range between $28 billion and $54 billion.
Among the most destructive events were the Palisades Fire, which razed 6,837 residential and commercial structures across Pacific Palisades and Malibu, and the Eaton Fire, centered in Altadena, which destroyed 9,414 structures. Entire neighborhoods were reshaped overnight, leaving communities grappling not only with material loss but also with emotional and social displacement.
Against this backdrop, the Altadena Center for Community stands as more than a building. It represents a framework for collective recovery—an architecture that addresses immediate needs while fostering long-term resilience. Through modest means and thoughtful design, the project underscores how temporary construction strategies can create lasting civic impact.
About Shigeru Ban Architects
Shigeru Ban Architects is an internationally acclaimed architecture studio founded in 1985 by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, whose work bridges humanitarian response and refined contemporary design. Known for pioneering the use of unconventional materials—most famously paper tubes, recycled cardboard, and modular shipping containers—the firm has consistently challenged assumptions about permanence, beauty, and structural integrity. From disaster-relief shelters and temporary community buildings to museums, private residences, and cultural institutions worldwide, the practice demonstrates that innovation and empathy can coexist within rigorous architectural language. Awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2014 and the AIA Gold Medal in 2026, Ban’s studio is celebrated not only for formal elegance and material experimentation, but also for its deep commitment to social responsibility, sustainability, and architecture as a tool for resilience and human dignity.
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