Accompanying an exhibition of the same name at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, this publication examines the recent work of the Chinese architect Wang Shu, Pritzker Prize winner in 2012. At a time when China’s explosive urbanization is making inroads into rural areas and leaving the marks of cheap concrete construction everywhere, Wang Shu and Amateur Architecture Studio are keen to work against this tendency by reusing materials from the buildings that Chinese authorities are systematically tearing down and rebuilding after western models. Wang Shu’s 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.
