You want a glitzy new cultural centre in Backofbeyondistan? Don’t call Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is the celebrated architect who refuses to become a celebrity. Thus, at 57, his career has run opposite to the dominant trend in the profession. For a generation there has been a star system in architecture, as tacky and ludicrous and overblown as the Hollywood original. Ban, softly spoken but strictly principled, is outside it.

New money — gas- and mineral-rich individuals and, indeed, whole nations — seeks prestige through stand-out buildings. The stage army of celebrity architects who once made their reputations through ingenious design have become willing collaborators in a vulgar conspiracy. Instead of selling ingenuity, or humbling themselves with notions of public utility, the starchitects have been doing slick promotional selfies as premium brands. You want a glitzy new cultural centre in Backofbeyondistan? Call Zaha! Call Rem! Send your jet! They can pack their Prada overnight bag in minutes.

But there is a reaction. Item 1. Even Koolhaas, a supernova in the star system who once enthused about creating identical mega-cities, says we now need to concentrate more on architecture than on architects.