Wang Shu

Wang Shu was born on 4 November 1963 in Ürümqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 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 to Lu Xun."{{cite news|title=Honored architect goes his own way|author=Xu Wenwen|date=9 March 2012|work=Shanghaidaily|url=http://www.hicenter.cn/columns_detail.asp?id=435243/|access-date=9 March 2012}}

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 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.

Wang did not have any commissions between 1990 and 1998. During that time his wife Lu Wenyu supported the family.[http://www.hicenter.cn/columns_detail.asp?id=435243 Honored architect goes his own way (Shanghai Daily)] Instead, he chose to further his studies at the School of Architecture of Tongji University in Shanghai, earning a PhD in 2000.

File:Ningbo_Museum_of_Art_2005.jpg

File:North facet of NBM.JPG

File: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 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.

In 2008 he completed the Ningbo Museum, 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/chinese-history-museum-literally-recycled-from-history.html |title=Chinese History Museum Literally Recycled From History |author=Alex Pasternack |publisher=treehugger.com |date=7 July 2009 |access-date=29 February 2012}} The museum won the 2009 Lu Ban Prize, the top architecture prize in China.{{cite news |url=http://news.cnnb.com.cn/system/2009/11/10/006320581.shtml |script-title=zh:宁波博物馆获国内建筑业最高荣誉"鲁班奖" |trans-title=Ningbo Museum won the Lu Ban Prize |newspaper=Ningbo News |language=zh |date=10 November 2009}}

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 in China.Thorsten Botz-Bornstein: [http://www.arkitekturforskning.net/Tidsskrift/2009/2009_1/botz-bornstein72.pdf "WANG Shu and the Possibilities of Critical Regionalism in Chinese Architecture"] in The Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, 1, 2009, 4–17.

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.Mure Dickie, "China's star architect blasts demolition culture", Financial Times, 25 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.

"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."{{cite news|title=The Local Architect / Wang Shu|author=Karen Cilento|date=28 February 2012|work=ArchDaily|url=http://www.archdaily.com/212424/the-local-architect-wang-shu/|access-date=28 February 2012}}

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."

In 2007, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu were awarded the first Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, alongside the future Pritker Prize Balkrishna Doshi, Françoise-Hélène Jourda, Stefan Behnisch and Hermann Kaufmann.{{Cite web|title=Global Award for Sustainable Architecture|url=http://www.citedelarchitecture.fr/en/article/global-award-sustainable-architecture|access-date=2020-06-04|website=Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine|language=en}}

In 2010, Wang and his wife Lu Wenyu together won the German Schelling Architecture Prize,{{cite web |url=http://schelling-architekturpreis.org/files/101105_SCHELLING.pdf |title=Schelling Architecture Prize 2010 |publisher=Schelling Architecture Prize |access-date=29 February 2012}} and in 2011 he received the Gold Medal from the French Academy of Architecture.

In 2012, Wang won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In so doing, he became the first Chinese citizen (second winner of Chinese descent after I. M. Pei) to win this prize, and the fourth youngest person to win. The jury, which included Pritzker laureate Zaha Hadid and the US Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer, 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."[http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2012/jury-citation The Pritzker Architecture Prize: Wang Shu – Jury Citation], 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.{{cite news|title=Will Wang Shu's Pritzker Win Prove Pivotal for China?|author=Lara Day|author2=Josh Chin|date=29 February 2012|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/02/29/will-wang-shus-pritzker-win-prove-pivotal-for-china/|access-date=29 February 2012}} 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, 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."{{cite news|title=Wang Shu by Alejandro Aravena|author=Alejandro Aravena|date=27 February 2012|work=ArchDaily|url=http://www.archdaily.com/211958/wang-shu-by-alejandro-aravena/|access-date=27 February 2012}}

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, Wang expressed his sentiment that his wife deserved to share the Pritzker Prize with him.{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/02/pritzker-prize-wang-shu-architect.html |title=Pritzker Prize goes to Wang Shu, 48-year-old Chinese architect |newspaper=LA Times |author=Christopher Hawthorne |date=27 February 2012}}

Major works by Wang include:

;Completed

• Youth Center (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){{Cite news|url=http://www.krumbach.at/Bus_Stop_Krumbach/English|title=Bus Stop Krumbach Projekt Info|work=Gemeinde Krumbach|access-date=2018-06-26|language=de}}
• Weilaizhitong Science Park (未来之瞳科学公园), Chang'an District, Xi'an (2024){{cite web|url=https://www.stdaily.com/web/gdxw/2024-12/27/content_279867.html|title=西安高新区：未来之瞳科学公园开园|date=2024-12-27|trans-title=High-tech Zone in Xi'an: Weilaizhitong Science Park opened}}

;Under construction or in design phase

• Heyun Culture and Leisure Centers (2009), Kunming
• City Cultural Center (2010), Jinhua
• Shi Li Hong Zhuang Traditional Dowry Museum (2010), Ninghai
• Contemporary Art Museum on the Dock (2010), Zhoushan
• Buddhist Institute Library (2011), Hangzhou

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• [http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2012/works Images of selected works] at Pritzker Prize
• Thorsten Botz-Bornstein: [http://www.arkitekturforskning.net/Tidsskrift/2009/2009_1/botz-bornstein72.pdf "WANG Shu and the Possibilities of Critical Regionalism in Chinese Architecture"] in The Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, 1, 2009, 4–17.

{{Pritzker Prize laureates}}

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Category:1963 births

Category:Architecture educators

Category:Artists from Xinjiang

Category:Academic staff of China Academy of Art

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Category:People from Ürümqi

Category:Pritzker Architecture Prize winners

Category:Southeast University alumni

Category:Tongji University alumni

Category:Wang Shu buildings