Wang Shu

Some work by Wang Shu, who recently won The Pritzker Prize, an award given to the architect who has "produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture". The Pritzker Prize has come to be known as architecture's highest honor.







For nearly all of the next ten years, he worked with craftsmen to gain experience at actual building and without the responsibility of design. In 1997, Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded their professional practice in Hangzhou, naming it “Amateur Architecture Studio.” He explains the name, “For myself, being an artisan or a craftsman, is an amateur or almost the same thing.” His interpretation of the word is relatively close to one of the unabridged dictionary’s definitions: “a person who engages in a study, sport or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons.” In Wang Shu’s interpretation, the word “pleasure” might well be replaced by “love of the work.” -- from the Pritzker Prize website