Curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition are Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu from Amateur Architecture Studio

Architects and educators, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997. Together they established the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art in 2003 and the School of Architecture in 2007, where Wang Shu is its first Dean and Lu Wenyu is the Director of the Sustainable Construction Center. 

The couple took part in the China Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2006, and were invited to participate in the 2010 main exhibition by Kazuyo Sejima and in 2016 by Alejandro Aravena.

They maintain a sustained focus on existing materials, the traces of ordinary people's daily lives, the vitality of the unnamed, common structures, and the process and craftsmanship of artisans on the construction site. 

They advocate for a radical experimentation that is rooted in the local context and vernacular tradition. The studio merges memory with innovation by combining recycled old building materials with modern engineering techniques, offering a powerful response to the social reality of urban development that involves large-scale demolition and construction. They have consistently upheld a broad global perspective, expressing through their works an innovative vision that transcends the cultural conflict between city and countryside, and the dichotomy of the artificial and the natural.

Among their best-known projects are the Ningbo Historic Museum and the Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art, which was selected by the New York Times in 2021 as one of the 25 Most Significant Works of Postwar Architecture. Their works have been exhibited in prestigious international institutions, such as the MOMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. 

Wang Shu received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2012, the most prestigious international award in the field of architecture.

Read more on La Biennale di Venezia’s website through this link.