Wang Shu (, born 4 November 1963)
[Pritzker prize: Wang Shu 2012 Laureate Media Kit](_blank)
retrieved 28 February 2012 is a Chinese architect based in
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
,
Zhejiang Province
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...
. He is the dean of the School of Architecture of the
China Academy of Art
China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first a ...
. 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 Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...
, the world's top prize in architecture.
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.
Early life and education
Wang Shu was born on 4 November 1963 in
Ürümqi
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...
, the capital of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
in China's far west. He began to draw and paint as a child, without any formal training in art.
Despite the anti-intellectual fervor of the "cultural revolution" (1966–76), his mother gave him access to the library and he read widely, from "
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
to
Lu Xun
Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. W ...
."
As a compromise between his passion of art and engineering, his parents' recommendation, Wang chose to study architecture at the School of Architecture of
Southeast University
Southeast University (SEU, ) is a public research university located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. It was formed from one of the oldest universities and the first coeducational university in China, and designated as a member of the Double First C ...
in
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
,
Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
(previously named
Nanjing Institute of Technology
The Nanjing Institute of Technology (NJIT;) is an undergraduate university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. It was founded in 2000 under the approval of the Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government a ...
) 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
China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first a ...
) and in 1990 completed his first architectural project, a youth centre in the city of
Haining
() is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, China, and under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. It is in the south side of Yangtze River Delta, and in the north of Zhejiang. It is to the southwest of central Shanghai, and east of Hangzhou, the p ...
near Hangzhou.
Wang did not have any commissions between 1990 and 1998. During that time his wife Lu Wenyu supported the family. Instead, he chose to further his studies at the School of Architecture of
Tongji University
Tongji University () is a comprehensive public research university located in Shanghai. Established in 1907 by the German government together with German physicians in Shanghai, Tongji is one of the longest-standing, most selective, and most pr ...
in Shanghai, earning a PhD in 2000.
Career
![Ningbo Tengtou Case Pavilion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Ningbo_Tengtou_Case_Pavilion.jpg)
In 1997, Wang and his wife Lu Wenyu, also an architect, founded the firm Amateur Architecture Studio.
They chose the name as a rebuke of the "professional, soulless architecture" practiced in China, which they believe has contributed to the large-scale demolition of many old urban neighborhoods.
Wang joined the faculty of the
China Academy of Art
China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first a ...
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 Highrise Award The International Highrise Award (german: Internationaler Hochhaus Preis) is an international award in architectural design. The award is bestowed to "a structure that combines exemplary sustainability, external shape and internal spatial quality, n ...
.
In 2008 he completed the
Ningbo Museum
The Ningbo Museum (), also known as the Yinzhou Museum () or the Ningbo Historic Museum (), is a museum in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, China. It is located in Yinzhou District and opened on December 5, 2008. The museum focuses on Ni ...
, a project he won in 2004 after an international competition.
The building's facade is constructed entirely of recycled bricks, and its shape - resembling nearby mountains - reflects its natural setting. The 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).
His architecture has been described as ''"opening new horizons while at the same time resonates with place and memory"'',
experimental, and as a rare example of
critical regionalism
Critical regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style, but also rejects the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of Postmodern architecture. The stylings ...
in China.
Design approach
Wang creates modern buildings making use of traditional materials and applying older techniques. The Ningbo Museum is constructed of bricks salvaged from buildings which had been demolished to facilitate new developments. Wang is a keen supporter of architectural heritage where globalisation has stripped cities of their special attributes.
"In an age where the goal is to offer a distinct, individualized style, Shu has shied away from such a prerogative. Ironically, with his manner of seamlessly meshing the contemporary with the cultural, innovation with tradition, Shu’s work has come to define itself. The work is infused with fresh material juxtapositions and an expressive quality grounded in traditional formal proportions and scale."
He requires his freshman architecture students to spend a year working with their hands, learning basic carpentry and bricklaying, and Wang also requires other teachers in the department learn basic building skills. Because he believes "Only people who understand the nature of materials can make art using the materials."
Awards
In 2007, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu were awarded the first
Global Award for Sustainable Architecture
The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture was founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. The Global Award Community, which in 2022 consists of the 75 contemporary architects or architect collectives from around the globe who have ...
, alongside the future Pritker Prize
Balkrishna Doshi
Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi OAL (born 26 August 1927) is an Indian architect. He is considered to be an important figure of Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India. Having worked ...
,
Françoise-Hélène Jourda
Françoise H Jourda (26 November 1955 – 31 May 2015) was an award-winning French architect. Jourda has taught architecture internationally since 1979 at the Ecole d’Architecture de Lyon, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, the Universi ...
, Stefan Behnisch and
Hermann Kaufmann
Hermann Kaufmann (born in Reuthe, Bregenzerwald) is an Austrian architect.
Early life
Hermann Kaufmann was born in 1955 in Reuthe, Bregenzerwald (Austria) and comes from a family with a long tradition in the carpentry business. At that time ...
.
In 2010, Wang and his wife
Lu Wenyu together won the German
Schelling Architecture Prize,
and in 2011 he received the Gold Medal from the French Academy of Architecture.
In 2012, Wang won the
Pritzker Architecture Prize
The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...
. In so doing, he became the first Chinese citizen (second winner of Chinese descent after
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
) to win this prize, and the fourth youngest person to win.
The jury, which included Pritzker laureate
Zaha Hadid
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...
and the US Supreme Court justice
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
, highlighted Wang's "unique ability to evoke the past, without making direct references to history" and called his work "timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal."
[The Pritzker Architecture Prize: Wang Shu – Jury Citation](_blank)
retrieved 28 February 2012 The chairman of the Hyatt Foundation said Wang's win represented "a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals" going forward.
Zhu Tao, a Chinese architectural critic and historian, speculated that the win could signify a turning point in Chinese architectural history saying the prize "sends a message that architecture is a cultural enterprise ... that architects are creators of culture."
Alejandro Aravena
Alejandro Gastón Aravena Mori (born 22 June 1967) is a Chilean architect and executive director of the firm Elemental S.A. He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2016, and was the director and curator of the Architecture Section of the 201 ...
, a member of the Pritzker Prize jury, stated "Wang Shu’s outstanding architecture may be the consequence of being able to combine talent and intelligence. This combination allows him to produce masterpieces when a monument is needed, but also very careful and contained architecture when a monument is not the case. The intensity of his work may be a consequence of his relative youth, but the precision and appropriateness of his operations talk of great maturity."
Personal life
Wang Shu's father is a musician and an amateur carpenter. His mother is a teacher and school librarian in Beijing. His sister is also a teacher.
Wang is married to
Lu Wenyu, who is also his business partner and fellow professor of architecture at the China Academy of Art.
In an interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Wang expressed his sentiment that his wife deserved to share the Pritzker Prize with him.
Major works
Major works by Wang include:
;Completed
* Youth Center (1990),
Haining
() is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, China, and under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. It is in the south side of Yangtze River Delta, and in the north of Zhejiang. It is to the southwest of central Shanghai, and east of Hangzhou, the p ...
* Library of Wenzheng College at
Soochow University (1999–2000),
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
* Ningbo Museum of Art (2001–05)
* Xiangshan Campus,
China Academy of Art
China Academy of Art (), also translated as China National Academy of Fine Arts, was founded in Hangzhou in 1928 by the government of the Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China and the renowned educator Cai Yuanpei. It was the first a ...
, Phases I & II (2002–07), Hangzhou
* Vertical Courtyard Apartments (2002–07), Hangzhou
* Sanhe House (2003),
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
* Teaching Building of the Music and Dance Department (2003–05),
Dongguan
Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the s ...
* Ceramic House (2003–06),
Jinhua
, alternately romanized as Kinhwa, is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, ...
* Five Scattered Houses (2003–06),
Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
*
Ningbo Museum
The Ningbo Museum (), also known as the Yinzhou Museum () or the Ningbo Historic Museum (), is a museum in the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, China. It is located in Yinzhou District and opened on December 5, 2008. The museum focuses on Ni ...
(2003–08)
* Tiled garden,
Venice Biennale of Architecture
Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian
Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...
(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
Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the tr ...
(2010)
*
Bus Stop in Krumbach, Austria (2014)
;Under construction or in design phase
* Heyun Culture and Leisure Centers (2009),
Kunming
Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...
* City Cultural Center (2010), Jinhua
* ''Shi Li Hong Zhuang'' Traditional Dowry Museum (2010),
Ninghai
Ninghai County () is a county under the administration of Ningbo, in the east of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It covers a land area of and a sea area of and has a coastline. It has four sub-districts, 11 towns, three townsh ...
* Contemporary Art Museum on the Dock (2010),
Zhoushan
Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...
* Buddhist Institute Library (2011), Hangzhou
References
External links
Images of selected worksat Pritzker Prize
* Thorsten Botz-Bornstein
"WANG Shu and the Possibilities of Critical Regionalism in Chinese Architecture"in ''The Nordic Journal of Architectural Research'', 1, 2009, 4–17.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Shu
1963 births
Architecture educators
Artists from Xinjiang
China Academy of Art faculty
Chinese architects
Living people
People from Ürümqi
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Southeast University alumni
Tongji University alumni
Wang Shu buildings