This craftsman-like approach and sensitivity to the area of Ningbo in the design of the

building are arguably qualities that won Wang Shu the 2012 Pritzker Prize; the jury praised
Wangs work as exemplary in its strong sense of cultural continuity and reinvigorated
tradition.

. The structures conceptual combination of mountains, water and ocean relates to both the
geographic nature of the coastal locale as well as the historical importance of sea culture. It
echoes the past, yet simultaneously updates it to coexist with surrounding buildings.

Wang seeks that his architectural practise, regardless of purpose or scale, will feel like a
home, believing that too many professional architects think too much of the building itself,
and less about those who will use it.

In 2000, Wang designed the Library of Wenzheng College at Soochow University, which won the
inaugural Architecture Art Award of China in 2004.[1][2] 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.[2] The building's facade is constructed entirely of recycled bricks, and its shape - resembling
nearby mountains - reflects its natural setting.[6] The museum won the 2009 Lu Ban Prize, the top
architecture prize in China.

His architecture has been described as "opening new horizons while at the same time resonates with
place and memory",[8] experimental, and as a rare example of critical regionalism in China

In 2010, Wang and his wife Lu Wenyu together won the German Schelling Architecture Prize, [12] and in
2011 he received the Gold Medal from the French Academy of Architecture. [1]

, 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.[2] 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.

TILE GARDEN

"Wang Shu's works that use recycled building materials, such as roof tiles and bricks from dismantled
walls, create rich textural and tactile collages. Working in collaboration with construction workers, the
outcome sometimes has an element of unpredictability, which in his case, gives the buildings a
freshness and spontaneity."

Ningbo History Museum, 2003-2008, Ningbo, China

"Wang Shu's buildings have a very rare attributea commanding and even, at times, monumental
presence, while functioning superbly and creating a calm environment for life and daily activities. The
History Museum at Ningbo is one of those unique buildings that while striking in photos, is even more
moving when experienced. The museum is an urban icon, a well-tuned repository for history and a
setting where the visitor comes first. The richness of the spatial experience, both in the exterior and
interior is remarkable. This building embodies strength, pragmatism and emotion all in one."

At Amateur Architecture Studio, he and his wife are concerned with notions of memory,
history, location, identity and craft. This relationship between culture and architecture is one
that can be seen in the Ningbo Museum of Art. Ningbo,

Ceramic House, 2006, Jinhua, China

Wang Shu was inspired by the functioning of the two-sided ink stone from ancient Chinathe plain side
stores the ink and the sloping side drips the ink. "I asked myself what I would see standing on the
surface of the ink stone and what from the bottom," says Shu.
At about 1400 square feet (130 square meters), Shu's cafe-house is described as a containershaped like
an ink stone. One side is designed to take advantage of the river and rains of Jinhua, while the other
side is "anchored on the earth bank."

Citation from the Pritzker Prize Jury

"Wang Shu knows how to embrace the challenges of construction and employ them to his advantage.
His approach to building is both critical and experimental. Using recycled materials, he is able to send
several messages on the careful use of resources and respect for tradition and context as well as give
a frank appraisal of technology and the quality of construction today, particularly in China."

Vertical Courtyard Apartments, 2002-2007, Hangzhou, China

"He calls his office Amateur Architecture Studio, but the work is that of a virtuoso in full command of
the instruments of architectureform, scale, material, space and light."

Library of Wenzheng College, 1999-2000, Suzhou, China

"In works undertaken by the office he founded with his partner and wife Lu Wenyu, Amateur
Architecture Studio, the past is literally given new life as the relationship between past and present is
explored."

AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE STUDIO

This name was chosen as a rebuke of the professional, soulless architecture practiced in
China, which they believed contributes to the large-scale demolition of many old urban
neighbourhoods