Wang Shu: 2012 Pritzker Prize Laureate

Wang Shu: 2012 Pritzker Prize Laureate

Awards he has received

Shu and his wife Lu Wenyu

About Wang Shu

Exhibitions he has participated in

• Founded the firm Amateur Architecture Studio with his wife in 1997 in Hangzhou, China
• The name references an amateur's approach to building (spontaneity, craft skills and cultural traditions)
• Utizilizes his knowledge of everyday techniques to adapt and transform materials for contemporary projects
• Unique combination of traditional understanding, experimental building tactics and intensive research

• 2011- The Gold Medal of Architecture from the l'Académie d'Architecture of France
• 2010- Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu were awarded the Schelling Architecture Prize (goes to individuals who have responsibly advanced architecture's development with significant designs, realized buildings or with profound contributions to architectural history and theory)
• 2008- Nominated for the German-based International Highrise Award
• 2005- "Five Scattered Houses" received acknowledgment from the Asia Pacific Holcim Award for sustainable construction
• 2003- Wenzheng Library received the Architecture Art Award of China

Wang Shu and his wife Lu Wenyu

• 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale at which he received a special mention for the "Decay of the Dome" installation
• 2009 "Architecture as a Resistance" solo exhibition at the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels
• 2007 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture
• 2003 "Alors, La Chine?" exhibit at the Centre Pompidou, Paris
• 2002 Shanghai Biennale at the Shanghai Art Museum
• 2001 "TU MU-Young Architecture of China" exhibits at AEDES Gallery, Berlin
• 1999 Chinese Young Architects' Experimental Works Exhibiton, UIA Congress, Beijing

• Born in 1963 in Urumqi in Xinjiang, the western most province of China
• First degree in architecture in 1985 and Masters received in 1988 from the Nan Nanjing Institute of Technology
• Professor and Head of the Architectu School at China Academy of Art, Hangzhou
• In 2011 he became the first Chinese Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts

One of the "Five Scattered Houses"

Wang Shu

Lake George Modern Contemporary Art Museum and Cafe

Lake George, New York

Section Cut/View: Number 1

Modelled after his Contemporary Modern Ningbo Museum and the Library of Wenzheng College

Elements Used Include:

• Spontaneous Window Placement
• Modern Interior and Exterior
• Repurposed stone and brick walls
• Curtain Windows for lots of light/lots of glass

Site Plan

Northern Elevation

First Floor

Eastern Elevation

Western Elevation

Second Floor

Section Cut/View: Number 3

Section Cut/View: Number 2

Southern Elevation

Decay of a Dome Installation:

Easily deconstructed and reconstructed again

His Graduation

His Style

A list of His Most Popular Works

• Wang Shu describeds himself as spontaneous and experimental, and not "official and monumental"

• When he builds he thinks of the building as a 'house' because he considers it closer to everyday life
• Unlike many other Contemporary Modern builders (including those he has employed), who look to the West for inspiration, Shu's work is rooted deeply in the context of chinese history and culture

• Library of Wenzheng College, Suzhou University, China (2000)
• Ningbo Contemporay Art Museum, Ningbo, China (2005)
• Five Scattered Houses, Ningbo, china (2005)
• Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art (Phase 1) Hangzhou, China (2004)
• Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art (Phase 2) Hangzhou, China (2007)
• Ceramic House, Jinhua, China (2006)
• Vertical Courtyard Apartments, Hangzhou, China (2007)
• Ningbo History Museum, Ningbo, China (2008)
• Exhibition Hall of the Imperial Street of Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou, China (2009)

Wa Shan Guesthouse

Xiangshan Campus

Architecture School at China Academy of Art

Xiangshan, China

By: Kristal Salisbury