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Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, founders of Amateur Architecture Studio, will be the curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, which will open its doors to the public of the Venice Architecture Biennale from 8 May to 21 November 2027.
Proposed by President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the two Chinese architects bring with them a vision that the President himself describes as “indispensable in the international debate on architecture and the meaning of dwelling.” A vision that combines “cultural responsibility and experimental genius” and that is, above all, deeply rooted in the “memory of places and in the knowledge of traditional construction processes.”
>>> Just Do Not Build: The Case for Imaginative Reuse
Wang Shu, winner of the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize, and Lu Wenyu founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997. Their architectural approach is centered on the reuse of existing materials, the recovery of traces left by everyday life, the vitality of anonymous structures, and the value of artisanal building processes. Their steady participation in previous Biennales (in 2006, in 2010 with a Special Mention, and in 2016) and their academic influence — with the founding of the Department of Architecture at the China Academy of Art and its School of Architecture, of which Wang Shu was the first dean and Lu Wenyu the director of the Center for Sustainable Construction — qualify them as figures capable of guiding a reflection that goes beyond aesthetics to address ethical and educational dimensions.
Their projects range from cultural buildings to schools and private homes, characterized by the use of recycled and local materials and a strong connection to context. By combining historical construction techniques with contemporary technologies, Amateur Architecture Studio promotes an architecture that resists building uniformity, rediscovering local authenticity and the value of craftsmanship. Among their best-known works are the Ningbo History Museum, the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art — selected in 2021 by The New York Times among the “25 Most Significant Works of Postwar Architecture” — Tiles Hill in Hangzhou, the Wa Shan Guesthouse, and the Fuyang Cultural Complex.
Their works have been exhibited in prestigious international institutions, including the MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Solo exhibitions have been dedicated to them at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, the Centre d’architecture Arc en rêve in Bordeaux, and BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. In 2019, they received the Gold Medal from the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society.
"In a context marked by concrete and urgent crises, adopting a simple and authentic approach takes on a particular significance — Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu commented — Our commitment will be to express this value and this pursuit with the utmost sincerity, contributing to a better reality and future."
>>> Discover the Lingyin Temple teahouse and guesthouse, designed by Amateur Architecture Studio
Cover image: © Matteo Losurdo, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
