Tag: lu-wenyu | ArchDaily

Venice Biennale 2027's "Do Architecture" and an Earth-Built Cinema in Ghana: This Week’s Review

Reyyan Dogan — Thu, 21 May 2026 06:30:00 +0000

This week's stories reveal a growing focus on reconnecting design with physical reality, whether through construction, landscape, public space, or collective participation. From the curatorial direction of the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale 2027 to internationally recognized projects addressing flood resilience, affordable housing, and ecological restoration, many of the week's discussions challenged architecture's increasing detachment from material, environmental, and social conditions. At the same time, major cultural interventions, temporary structures, and public forums explored how institutions and civic spaces can become more accessible, adaptable, and engaged with everyday urban life.

"Do Architecture": Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu Announce Theme and Title for 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale

Reyyan Dogan — Tue, 19 May 2026 06:30:00 +0000

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, have unveiled the first details of the highly anticipated 2027 edition. Titled "Do Architecture - For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality," the exhibition will take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027, across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and throughout Venice.

Lu Wenyu: Quiet Radicalism and the Practice of Repair

Jonathan Yeung — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 08:30:00 +0000

Lu Wenyu—co-founder of Amateur Architecture Studio with Pritzker laureate Wang Shu—has shaped many of the practice's most emblematic works across China, including the Ningbo History Museum and the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Often working outside the spotlight, her leadership is unmistakable in the discipline of execution and the roles she has assumed: in 2003, together with Wang Shu, she established the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art, where she also serves as Director of the Sustainable Construction Center. Her practice and teaching form a reciprocal loop: research conducted in studios at the China Academy of Art continually folds back into construction strategies on site, while lessons learned in the field return to the classroom as material intelligence rather than abstract theory.

Wang Shu: Reimagining Chinese Architecture through Craft and Memory

Moises Carrasco — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Born in 1963 in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, architect Wang Shu has dedicated his career to defining a contemporary approach to building that is deeply rooted in China's cultural and material history. In 2012, he was recognized with the Pritzker Prize, becoming the first Chinese citizen to receive the distinction. The award jury acknowledged his body of work "for the exceptional nature and quality of his executed work, and also for his ongoing commitment to pursuing an uncompromising, responsible architecture arising from a sense of specific culture and place." In 2027, along with his wife Lu Wenyu, Wang Shu will be a curator for the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Global Urban Transformation and Climate-Responsive Design from Venice to Rio: This Week’s Review

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 05:30:00 +0000

Amid ongoing global discussions on climate adaptation and resilient urban development brought into sharper focus by the outcomes of COP30, this week's architecture news illustrates how cities worldwide are rethinking their built environments. From Venice, where the 19th Architecture Biennale concluded with debates on material use and long-term cultural impact, to international awards foregrounding regenerative and socially responsive design, the conversation around architecture is increasingly intertwined with planetary priorities. Major urban interventions, from Thessaloniki's seafront redevelopment and Rio de Janeiro's new public library, to Abu Dhabi's Natural History Museum and a civic stadium in Birmingham, demonstrate how multiple cities are addressing mobility, heritage, density, and climate resilience. Additional plans, such as Mantua's ecological urban strategy, Utrecht's elevated landscape above transport networks, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's redesigned landside mobility system, further reflect a transition toward integrated, people-centred urban frameworks that prioritize environmental performance, public space, and long-term territorial stewardship.

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu Named Curators of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2027

Romullo Baratto — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 03:30:00 +0000

La Biennale di Venezia has announced that architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu will curate the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, opening in May 2027. Founders of Amateur Architecture Studio and leading voices in contemporary practice, the duo is known for an approach rooted in craftsmanship, material reuse, and deep engagement with place. Their appointment brings renewed attention to vernacular knowledge, construction cultures, and the social realities shaping architecture today.

Radical Social Housing Project in Barcelona Wins the 2024 RIBA International Prize

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 05:30:00 +0000

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded its 2024 International Prize to Modulus Matrix, an 85-unit social housing development in Cornellà, near Barcelona. Designed by Peris + Toral Arquitectes, the six-story timber-framed building is a notable example of innovative social housing design. Its modular structure, based on a 3.6m x 3.6m grid inspired by traditional Japanese homes, creates a flexible and adaptable living space. The design prioritizes cross-ventilation, dual orientation, and a central communal courtyard, fostering social interaction and community building.

MAXXI Museum Celebrates Female Architects Through "Good News. Women in Architecture" Exhibition

Andreea Cutieru — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 05:30:00 +0000

MAXXI Museum celebrates women in architecture in a new exhibition that documents the transformative role of female architects in the profession's evolution over the last century. Curated by Pippo Ciorra, Elena Motisi, Elena Tinacci, and with exhibition design by Matilde Cassani, Good News. Women in Architecture weaves together in four thematic sections the history of women in architecture, with the work of contemporary practitioners and the voices of young collectives, telling the stories of over eighty female architects.

Witnessing the Growth of Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art: 2007 vs 2021

Scarlett Miao — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 07:30:00 +0000

The Xiangshan campus of China Academy of Art was designed by the recipient of the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize, Shu Wang and Wenyu Lu from Amateur Architecture Studio. The studio was responsible for the overall project completion from master planning to architectural design and landscape design. On the north side of Xiangshan is the first phase of the campus. It was designed in 2001 and completed in 2004. It is a complex of ten buildings and two bridges, with a construction area of about 70,000 square meters. The second phase of the campus is located on the south side of Xiangshan, and it was designed in 2004 and completed in 2007. It consists of ten large buildings and two small buildings with a construction area of nearly 80,000 square meters.

Amateur Architecture Studio’s Works on Contemporary Chinese Architecture with Recycled Materials

Scarlett Miao — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Over the past two centuries, cities in China have multiplied and expanded on a large scale, under accelerated urbanization. Mass demolition of the old city fabric, occurring everywhere, is leaving industrial debris and fragmented cultural artifacts buried forever, under shiny new skyscrapers. As old Chinese cities are collapsing and new urban centers are outspreading, a part of the city was lost, the old demolished landscape. Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, the first Chinese citizens to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, responded to this past-present relation by working with recycled materials and traditional know-how. In the following, we explore some of this couple's renowned works such as Ningbo History Museum, Ningbo (2008), Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art, Hangzhou (2004), and Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum (2005), to examine his humanistic approach to the city.

Wang Shu: "Architecture is Not Just an Object That You Place in the Environment"

AD Editorial Team — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 10:30:00 +0000

[Architecture can] change the life of people and give them a new one right away. This is not a job for normal people to do. This should be the work of God.

Kenneth Frampton On The Work of Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu

Kenneth Frampton — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:30:00 +0000

Until April 30th, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark is exhibiting the work of Wang Shu. The first in a new series of monographic exhibitions collectively titled "The Architect's Studio," this show of the work of the 2012 Pritzker Prize winner features an exhibition catalog that includes essays from Kenneth Frampton, Ole Bouman, Yiping Dong and Aric Chen. The following excerpt from the exhibition catalog, written by Kenneth Frampton, is republished here with the permission of the author and publisher.

Material Masters: The Traditional Tiles of Wang Shu & Lu Wenyu

Evan Rawn — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 10:30:33 +0000

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio are known for their distinctly contextual attitudes towards design which prize tradition and timelessness above anything else. In many cases, their use of materials is governed by local availability of salvaged building elements. Tiles, in particular, represent a material used repeatedly by Amateur Architecture studio and for Wang Shu, who won the 2012 Pritzker Prize, they offer a political as well as an architectural message.

An Interview with Lu Wenyu, Amateur Architecture Studio

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Wed, 13 May 2015 09:30:53 +0000

“Every couple of years a new manifesto appears, but how long can it last? We need more people doing instead of talking. [At Amateur Architecture Studio] we spend an enormous amount of time experimenting, trying to resurrect the craftsmanship that is almost lost. We use a method that is passed on, hand-to-hand, to re-establish tradition instead of talking about abstract but empty concepts.”
- Lu Wenyu, Hangzhou, 2013

Thom Mayne, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu among the RIBA's 2015 Fellowships

Rory Stott — Thu, 25 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced 13 Honorary Fellowships and 11 International Fellowships which it will award at an event on February 3rd, along with the recently announced RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

Wang Shu's Partner Lu Wenyu: I Never Wanted a Pritzker

Pola Mora — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Lu Wenyu defends her husband Wang Shu for solely receiving the Pritzker Prize in 2012. Despite the fact that the couple co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio and have worked side by side ever since, Wengyu maintains that her husband would have shared the Prize with her - she just didn't want it.