The architect is praised for producing a body of work that opens new horizons while resonating with place and memory.
February 29th, 2012
Chinese architect Wang Shu has been announced as the winner of this year’s prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize – often described as the ‘Nobel prize of architecture’.
Ceramic House, 2003 – 2006, Jinhua, China
Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the prize, explains the significance of this year’s winner.
“The fact that an architect from China has been selected by the jury represents a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals. In addition, over the coming decades China’s success at urbanisation will be important to China and to the world… China’s unprecedented opportunities for urban planning and design will want to be in harmony with both its long and unique traditions of the past and with its future needs for sustainable development.”
Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art, Phase I, 2002 – 2004, Hangzhou, China
Pritzker Prize jury chairman The Lord Palumbo says that Wang’s work is able to transcend the current debate “as to whether architecture should be anchored in tradition or should look only toward the future”. Wang’s work, he says, is “timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal”.
Xiangshan Campus, China Academy of Art, Phase I
The 48-year-old architect runs Hangzhou-based “Amateur Architecture Studio” with his wife, Lu Wenyu, where traditional understanding, experimental building tactics, and intensive research form the basis of their work.
Ningbo History Museum, 2003 – 2008, Ningbo, China
His completed projects include the Library of Wenzheng College at Suzhou University, Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum, Ningbo History Museum, Xingshan Campus of the China Academy of Art, Vertical Courtyard Apartments, and the Ceramic House.
Ningbo History Museum
International accolades include the French Gold Medal from the Academy of Architecture in 2011, and the German Schelling Architecture Prize in 2010 – a joint award with his wife.
Ningbo Tengtou Pavilion (2010), Shanghai Expo, China
Wang Shu has expressed considerable surprise at his win, saying that he is greatly honoured. “I suddenly realised that I’ve done many things over the last decade. It proves that earnest hard work and persistence lead to positive outcomes.”
Past Pritzker Prize laureates include Frank Gehry (US), Zaha Hadid (UK), Rem Koolhaas (the Netherlands), Renzo Piano (Italy), Jean Nouvel (France), SANAA (Japan) and, just last year, Eduardo Souto de Moura (Portugal).
The Pritzker Architecture Prize
pritzkerprize.com
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Schneider Electric’s new range are making bulky outlets a thing of the past with the new UNICA X collection.
Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.
How can design empower the individual in a workplace transforming from a place to an activity? Here, Design Director Joel Sampson reveals how prioritising human needs – including agency, privacy, pause and connection – and leveraging responsive spatial solutions like the Herman Miller Bay Work Pod is key to crafting engaging and radically inclusive hybrid environments.
Bedrooms are perhaps the most personal rooms in the home. Here are a few ways to create an atmosphere tailored to your personal taste.
In mid-October, Catapult Design successfully delivered over 150 pieces of furniture as part of the multi-year, $400m+ redevelopment of Macquarie Centre.
On Wednesday 9 June over 200 of Sydney’s design community joined Stylecraft at the Palace Verona Cinemas in Paddington for a private viewing of Sex and the City 2. Guests enjoyed cosmopolitan cocktails and champagne on arrival and much to everyone’s surprise, a performance from four of Sydney’s best drag queen entertainers preceded the screening.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
The founder and managing director of iconic Australian furniture brand Cult joins us on the podcast to discuss his journey through the world of commercial design.
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW Chapter has announced the winners of the 2025 NSW Landscape Architecture Awards.