Amateur Architecture Studio

"Wang Shu Amateur Architecture Studio is the first major book on the recent work of architect Wang Shu, Pritzker Price winner in 2012, and his wife Lu Wenyu. Together they have run Amateur Architecture Studio, based in Hangzhou, China, for nearly 20 years. At a time when Chinas explosive urbanization is making inroads into rural areas and leaving the marks of cheap concrete construction everywhere, Amateur Architecture Studio is keen to work against this tendency by reusing materials from the buildings that Chinese authorities are systematically tearing down. Amateur Architecture Studios working ways successfully represent socially conscious and sustainable new architecture. Wang Shus architecture reveals a thoughtful attitude toward both design and implementation, as well as the ability to react flexibly to the surroundings and history of a particular site. At heart, it comes down to preserving Chinese building customs and local awareness of material in a nation that is fast losing its building culture. The studios projects inhabit a fascinating field between allusions to traditional Chinese culture and large-scale modern architecture. This book is published on the occasion of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art exhibition in 2017 of Wang Shu and Amateur Architecture Studios work. Featuring a wealth of images by architecture photographer Iwan Baan this is a detailed and reflective guide to Amateur Architecture Studios projects, philosophy and methodology." -- Publicaciones Arquitectura y Arte.