design
mag |
17
Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now the
China Academy of Fine Art), which was
established in 1928 in Hangzhou, the capital
of Zhejiang Province.
Next Wang designed a youth centre
measuring 3600 square metres in Haining, a
town of 640,000 people 62 kilometres east of
Hangzhou, which was completed in 1990.
After that he chose a rather different and
unusual path for himself: From 1990 to 1998
Wang Shu worked with craftsmen who were
renovating old buildings, in order to learn as
much as he could about construction and
materials. Due to the unprecedented urban
development in China since 1998, all of the
projects that he worked on during this
period have been demolished, however the
valuable hands-on experience that Wang
gained has profoundly influenced his views
on architecture ever since. Consequently,
the buildings designed by him are highly
crafted objects, and in a recent interview in
The New York Times he explained that this
“handicraft aspect” of his work was one
reason why he did not produce
“professionalized, soulless architecture, as
practiced today.”
In 1997 Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu,
also an architect, established the Amateur
Architecture Studio in Hangzhou.The name
of their firm reflects their down-to-earth
architectural philosophy.“The ‘Amateur
Architecture Studio’ is a purely personal
architecture studio,”Wang explained.
“It should not be even referred to as an
architect’s office because design is an
amateur activity and life is more important
than design. Our work is constantly refreshed
by various spontaneous things that occur.
And, most important, we encourage
independence and individualism to
guarantee the experimental work of the
previous opening.
The
Ningbo History Museum
(2008), designed by Wang
Shu and Lu Wenyu’s firm, the
Amateur Architecture Studio.
The insert image shows part
of a museum wall made
from recycled bricks and
tiles.
this opening.
(clockwise
from left) Windows in the
Ningbo History Museum.
Wang Shu’s ‘Tiled Garden’
installation at the 2006
Venice Architecture Biennale.
A roof made from recycled
tiles at the Xiangshan
campus of the Chinese
Academy of Art.
Photographs courtesy Pritzker Architecture Prize
