Wang Shu

The architecture of Wang Shu, winner of the 2012 Pritzker Prize, opens up new horizons and at the same time resonates with place and memory. His buildings have the unique ability to evoke the past, without making direct references to history. Wang Shu was born in 1963 and educated in China, his architecture is exemplary for its strong sense of cultural continuity and revitalised tradition. In the works produced by the office he founded with his partner and wife Lu Wenyu, Amateur Architecture Studio, the past literally takes on new life as he explores the relationship between past and present. The question of the appropriate relationship between present and past is particularly timely, as the recent process of urbanisation in China invites a debate on whether architecture should be anchored in tradition or should look only to the future. As with any great architecture, Wang Shu's work is capable of transcending this debate, producing an architecture that is timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal.

Wang Shu's buildings have a very rare attribute: an imposing and sometimes even monumental presence, while at the same time functioning magnificently and creating a tranquil environment for everyday life and activities. The Ningbo Historic Museum is one of those unique buildings that, while striking in photos, is even more striking when enjoyed. The museum is an urban icon, a well-tuned repository for history and a setting where the visitor is most important. The richness of the spatial experience, both outside and inside, is remarkable. This building embodies strength, pragmatism and emotion all in one.

Wang Shu knows how to accept the challenges of construction and use them to his advantage. His approach to construction is both critical and experimental. Using recycled materials, he is able to send several messages about the careful use of resources and respect for tradition and context, as well as giving a frank appraisal of the technology and quality of today's construction, particularly in China. Wang Shu's works using recycled building materials, such as tiles and bricks from dismantled walls, create collages of great textural and tactile richness. Working in collaboration with construction workers, the result sometimes has an element of unpredictability which, in his case, gives the buildings freshness and spontaneity.

Despite his age, young for an architect, he has demonstrated his ability to work successfully at various scales. The Xiangshan campus of the Chinese Academy of the Arts in Hangzhou is like a small city that provides a learning and living environment for students, faculty and staff. Exterior and interior connections between buildings and public and private spaces provide a rich environment where the emphasis on liveability prevails. He is also able to create buildings of intimate scale, such as the small exhibition hall or the pavilions inserted into the fabric of the historic centre of Hangzhou. Like all great architecture, it does so with the naturalness of a master, making it look like an effortless exercise.

He calls his office an "Amateur Architectural Studio", but the work is that of a virtuoso who masters the tools of architecture to perfection: form, scale, material, space and light. The 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded to Wang Shu for the exceptional nature and quality of the work he has executed, and also for his ongoing commitment to the pursuit of the search for an uncompromising architecture, responsible and arising from a sense of culture and place.