Wang Shu

Wang Shu is a Chinese architect based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. He is the dean of the School of Architecture of the China Academy of Art. With his practice partner and wife Lu Wenyu, he founded the firm Amateur Architecture Studio. In 2012, Wang became the first Chinese citizen to win the Pritzker Prize. The award was the subject of some controversy since the Pritzker committee did not also award Lu Wenyu, his wife and architectural partner, despite their years of collaboration.
Born: 4 November 1963 (age 60) Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China
Nationality: Chinese
Other names: 王澍
Alma mater:
Nanjing Institute of Technology, now Southeast University, Tongji University
Occupation: Architect
Awards: Pritzker Prize 2012
Buildings: Ningbo Museum
Wang chose to study architecture at the School of Architecture of Southeast University in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province (previously named Nanjing Institute of Technology) and received a bachelor's degree in 1985 and a master's degree in 1988.
Although Wang lived in Ürümqi and Beijing in his early life, after college he moved to Hangzhou for the city's natural landscapes and ancient tradition of art. He worked for the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) and in 1990 completed his first architectural project, a youth centre in the city of Haining near Hangzhou.
He furthered his studies at the School of Architecture of Tongji University in Shanghai, earning a PhD in 2000.
In 1997, Wang and his wife Lu Wenyu, also an architect, founded the firm Amateur Architecture Studio. T
Wang joined the faculty of the China Academy of Art in 2000 as a professor, became the Head of the Architecture Department in 2003, and was named Dean of the School of Architecture in 2007.
In 2000, Wang designed the Library of Wenzheng College at Soochow University, which won the inaugural Architecture Art Award of China in 2004. His Five Scattered Houses in Ningbo won the Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction in the Asia Pacific in 2005. In 2008 his Vertical Courtyard Apartments in Hangzhou was nominated for the International High-rise Award.
Ningbo Museum won the 2009 Lu Ban Prize, the top architecture prize in China.
Wang's other major projects include the Ningbo Museum of Art (2005), the Xiangshan campus of the China Academy of Art (2007) and the Old Town Conservation of Zhongshan Street, Hangzhou (2009).
Design philosophy:
Wang Shu’s designs always attempt to make use of traditional building materials and older techniques in modern buildings. It is visible in many of his works. For example: The Ningbo Museum uses bricks salvaged from demolished buildings and old tiles.
His freshman architecture students are required to work hands-on for a year because he believes:
“Only people who understand the nature of materials can make art using the materials.”
He is a keen supporter of architectural heritage, in a time where globalisation has stripped the cities of their special attributes. Wang Shu has often said in his interviews and lectures, that his architecture is spontaneous for the simple reason that it is a matter of everyday life. When he says building a house instead of a building he thinks of something closer to everyday life.
He adds that the name of his studio is Amateur Architecture Studio, to emphasise the spontaneous and experimental aspects of his work, opposed to the prevalent official and monumental.
Wang Shu offered an alternative style of architecture while acknowledging the need for large-scale new building projects in China. At his studio, he and his wife offer design solutions concerned with memory, history, location, identity and craft.
Notable works:
Youth Centre (1990), Haining
Library of Wenzheng College at Soochow University (1999-2000), Suzhou
Ningbo Museum of Art (2001-05)
Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art, Phases I & II (2002-07), Hangzhou
Vertical Courtyard Apartments (2002-07), Hangzhou
Sanhe House (2003), Nanjing
Teaching Building of the Music and Dance Department (2003-05), Dongguan
Ceramic House (2003-06), Jinhua
Five Scattered Houses (2003-06), Ningbo
Ningbo Museum (2003-08)
Tiled garden, Venice Biennale of Architecture (2006), Italy
Old Town Conservation of Zhongshan Street (2007-09), Hangzhou
Exhibition Hall of the Imperial Street of Southern Song Dynasty (2009), Hangzhou
Ningbo Tengtou Pavilion, Shanghai Expo (2010)
Bus Stop in Krumbach, Austria (2014)
Under construction or in design phase
Heyun Culture and Leisure Centres (2009), Kunming
City Cultural Centre (2010), Jinhua
Shi Li Hong Zhuang Traditional Dowry Museum (2010), Ninghai
Contemporary Art Museum on the Dock (2010), Zhoushan
Buddhist Institute Library (2011), Hangzhou
Quotes:
“Only people who understand the nature of materials can make art using the materials.”
"Architecture is Not Just an Object That You Place in the Environment“