Rock, paper, scissors! These 5 TED Talks play with paper in fresh ways

playlist TEDTalks Beatrice Coron shows off an incredible cape, made out of cut paper, at TED2011. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Architect Shigeru Ban uses paper tubes to build temporary, ecologically sustainable structures. Shigeru Ban: Emergency shelters made from paperThese geometrically complex structures can be big and impressive — like a concave complex built for Expo 2000 in Germany — or small and functional, like the half-pipe office Ban built for himself atop the Pompadou Center in Paris. No matter their size or shape, these majestic structures make an impact. And in today’s talk, Ban suggests that architecture should focus on things that help society; whether that means building emergency shelters for people in need or creating buildings that can be recycled, leaving behind nothing at all.

Ban may be one of the few major architects in the world making buildings out of paper, but when it comes to transforming paper into something new and revolutionary, he is in good company. Below, talks from TED speakers using paper innovation for art, technology and social change.

And a bonus:

Callie Curry aka Swoon at TEDxBrooklyn
Callie Curry started wheatpasting as a way to take her art out of the classroom and engage with her world. But what began as outdoor art expanded to seagoing rafts, and eventually to homes in post-earthquake Haiti made out of scavenged material. In her TEDxBrooklyn talk, Curry describes the power of repurposing products of destruction into the structures of tomorrow.

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