Profit, not passion, is putting home ownership - and good design - further out of reach for the average Sydneysider, Pritzker Prize laureate Shigeru Ban says.

"Commercial developers, [who are] profit-oriented ??? that's the problem," he said.

"Cities are not designed by planners or government, cities are made by developers [now]."

And Ban understands affordable housing. The Tokyo-born architect has spent more than a decade working on humanitarian projects, designing temporary shelters for those displaced by natural disaster for as little as US$2000 ($2620).

But the design principles for designing relief homes and designing more permanent residences is the same, he explained.

"It's not about space, it's about construction method," he said. "Even with the same space, we can make a comfortable house inexpensively.

"There are so many ideas in the construction method to make affordable housing, as long as the developer doesn't mind to make less benefit, there are so many ways to make comfortable, affordable housing."

Ban is perhaps best known in the Asia-Pacific region for his ingenious use of cardboard tubes, like those used in his Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, which opened in 2013, two years on from the earthquake that devastated the region and left 185 dead.

In Sydney at the weekend to promote the opening of his first Australian exhibition, The inventive work of Shigeru Ban, at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, the architect also lamented the waning vision of his contemporaries.

"Generally speaking, architects stopped inventing. One of the reasons is, people are afraid to be sued - if you do something extremely innovative, we can be sued very easily," he said.

"Especially these days, nothing comes out anymore, nothing new - it's only decorative, funny shapes. Nobody wants to be innovative and experimental, nor to be sued."

Ban said the effect has left a lasting impression on city skylines around the world.

"In Tokyo, most of the buildings are designed by not good architects, they are designed by big firms ??? normally they are not good architects so that the building is boring - in Tokyo, in Sydney - it's the same.

"In big cities, most buildings are designed by big firms, they are not interesting."

The inventive work of Shigeru Ban is open until July 1 at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.