Wang Shu

Amateur Attitude examines the recent work of the Chinese architect Wang Shu, Pritzker Prize winner in 2012. Exhibiting a contemporary aesthetic, the architect's buildings show his intense engagement with their setting and its history, coupled with reliance on traditional building techniques. He often reuses materials from city districts that have been torn down. This approach i...

Amateur Attitude examines the recent work of the Chinese architect Wang Shu, Pritzker Prize winner in 2012. Exhibiting a contemporary aesthetic, the architect's buildings show his intense engagement with their setting and its history, coupled with reliance on traditional building techniques. He often reuses materials from city districts that have been torn down. This approach is based on a critical attitude toward the kind of overly rationalized architecture being built today in many of the world's cities, where efficiency seems to be the primary watchword. Wang Shu's architecture reveals instead a thoughtful attitude toward both design and implementation, as well as the ability to react flexibly to the context of a particular site-something he characterizes as an "Amateur Attitude." The essays place the architect's work in its contemporary context, while extensive illustrations provide exclusive insights into his varied creative work.

WANG SHU was born in 1963 in the province of Xinjiang, China. He founded his architecture offi ce Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997. In 2012, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize. KENNETH FRAMPTON, born 1930, is one of the world's most renowned architectural theorists, the author of the world best seller Modern Architecture: A Critical History, and a professor at Columbia Univer...

WANG SHU was born in 1963 in the province of Xinjiang, China. He founded his architecture offi ce Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997. In 2012, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize. KENNETH FRAMPTON, born 1930, is one of the world's most renowned architectural theorists, the author of the world best seller Modern Architecture: A Critical History, and a professor at Columbia University, New York. ARIC CHEN, born 1974, is an author, critic, and the curator of design and architecture of the new M+ Museum for Visual Culture in Hong Kong.