Pritzker Architecture Prize Awarded to Chinese for First Time

Chinese architect Wang Shu wins “architecture world’s highest honour”

Combining the use of old materials to celebrate the past with contemporary forms, Chinese architect Wang Shu won the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize on the 27th. Wang Shu is not only the first Chinese citizen to be awarded this honour, he is also the fourth youngest winner. Previously, Chinese-American I.M. Pei had also won this award in 1983.

According to reports, Thomas J. Pritzker, the head of the Hyatt Foundation which organises the prize, announced the winner Wang Shu on the 27th. He said, “The selection of Mr. Wang, 48, is an acknowledgment of “the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals.”

Pritzker pointed out: “The question of the proper relation of present to past is particularly timely, for the recent process of urbanization in China invites debate as to whether architecture should be anchored in tradition or should look only toward the future. As with any great architecture, Wang Shu’s work is able to transcend that debate, producing an architecture that is timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal.” […]

Wang Shu was born in Xinjiang in 1963. He graduated in 1985 from Nanjing College of Engineering majoring in Architecture and gained a doctorate in Architecture in 2000 from Tongji University. He is currently the head of Architectural Arts School at the China Academy of Art, and is known as “The most cultured architect in China”.

Photos of the Wang Shu designed China Academy of Art, Xiangshan Campus.

Photos of the Wang Shu designed Ningbo Museum.

Comments from NetEase (1 & 2):

绍兴师爷123456 [网易浙江省温州市网友]：

This is a little NB. This must be the first time our countrymen have won this prize.

hj660925 [网易新疆网友]：

With kitschy architecture everywhere throughout this country, all of them looking like one another, to be able to emerge unstained by that filth, [deserves a] ding!

网易浙江省网友：

Whether it’s as important as world turmoil, or as insignificant as eating and shitting, any piece of news can make Chinese netizens fight amongst each other. Only on pornography forums are netizens civilised, never have I seen anyone curse anyone, everyone’s like: “Good job louzhu“, “thank you louzhu“, “louzhu is a good person, may he live a peaceful life”.

邮件搜索狂飙 [网易河北省石家庄市网友]：

Chinese real estate should also win a major world prize.

芙小小 [网易云南省昆明市网友]：

Will the 100,000 USD prize money need to be split? What the LD says goes for this kind of thing, right?

問水 [网易广东省广州市网友]：

For this kind of person to appear in this nation where forced demolitions are everywhere, where “tofu dregs” [poorly built buildings] are everywhere, where “good enough, about right” is done everywhere, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad!

st中国 [网易山东省威海市网友]：

What rank in the world does our forced demolitions get?

acnmdb0 [网易北京市网友]：

Sigh, the moment foreigners say something is good, we also say it is good, and the creation of a “god” begins. Actually, looking at these buildings, they’re really just average. Even if this kind of [design] concept/philosophy is worth promoting, their practicality isn’t very high. But the moment he becomes a god, many other architectural designs will start looking at him as the authority.