CHINAS modern skyline is full of iconic buildings, more and more of which are shooting up every year. Most of the internationally renowned architects responsible for them are just that – international. With so few Chinese architects making their mark on Chinas cityscapes, 49-year-old Professor Wang Shus winning of this years prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize has come as a welcome surprise.

Wang Shus career is peppered with distinctive achievements that have made him a prominent figure in the architectural world. In China, the architectural community sees this as proof of the progress China is making, and as a promising sign for its emerging architects. The prize not only acknowledges the quality of Wang Shus work, but also Chinas growing importance across the board. Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of the Hyatt Foundation which sponsors the prize, said when announcing the jurys choice, “The fact that an architect from China has been selected by the jury represents a significant step in acknowledging the role China will play in the development of architectural ideals.”

Innovation through Preserving the old

Wang Shu started his career as researcher of the environment and architecture in relation to the renovation of old buildings. This topic has influenced his work ever since. As an architect he is meticulous and does not run headstrong into any design without proper considerations. When offered a project to redesign a four-kilometer-long historical street in Hangzhou, after initially declining, Wang stipulated three conditions. “I thought that these rigorous requirements would prompt government leaders to find someone else,” Wang said, “but to my surprise, they accepted.”

First and foremost, determined to avoid the typical model for government projects where half a year is set aside for the design and buildings are then constructed in a rush, the authorities had to allow him half a year just to carry out research.Wang expected to finish construction in no less than three years. His other two requirements addressed common features of government redevelopment schemes whereby old houses are demolished to be replaced with new replicas, and long-term residents are cleared out to make room for businesses. Such an approach would result in a cold, business-orientated street.

Insistence on preserving existing traditional buildings imbues Wang Shus work with a striking blend of modernity and tradition. This is partly why Wang Shu won the Pritzker Prize. “The question of the proper relationship of present to past is particularly timely. The recent process of urbanization in China invites debate on whether architecture should be anchored in tradition or look only toward the future,” said Lord Palumbo, chairman of the Pritzker jury. “As with any great architecture, Wang Shus work is able to transcend that debate, producing architecture that is timeless, deeply rooted in its context and yet universal.”

One example of this is his only commercial residential project, in which Wang designed six highrise buildings that he called Vertical Courtyard Apartments. He used the layout of traditional courtyard buildings as inspiration for the homes, piling them one on top of the other.

This project is another example where Wangs ambitious demands and vision unexpectedly won out. “The developer figured out for me that with this design, and with RMB 5,000 as the cost of one square meter, it would need RMB 50 million,” said Wang. “He joked with me saying, ‘This is the cost of supporting your design.”

Some might say it has been luck that has made those commissioning his work yield and see his designs through to their end. But Wang possesses a certain passion and single-mindedness that makes doing it any other way unlikely. “A good architect should stick to a philosophy,” is Wangs motto.

Many of Wangs contemporaries blame their unsatisfactory works on not being able to come up with good ideas. Wang doesnt agree. “I never think this way. An idea or a pop-up thought cannot solve the problem. I think that there is a lack of a continuous, coherent and persistent philosophy in our Chinese ar-chitectural field.”

secondhand Bricks and Congested Layouts

One of his biggest and best-known projects is the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where he is the dean of the school of architectural art. The design for this campus has proved his innovative approach and sensitivity to questions faced by Chinas architectural field today.

The campus is like no other, and certainly contrasts hugely with most contemporary university campuses in China. Rather than simply building new buildings in tried and tested styles, the Xiangshan Campus has a strong sense of modernity and creativity. Visitors have been astounded by its complexity of space and diversity of styles, both practical, with covered walkways protecting students and staff as they make their way to and from class, and visually stunning.

The buildings are crammed together with little space between them, so as you move through them the surrounding scenery shifts and changes with each step. Some people have had doubts about this congested campus design, but Professor Wang has his own ideas about this. “We were discussing in depth the relationship between urbanization and the natural environment,” he said. “In order to preserve the original natural surroundings, buildings must compromise with nature.”

With this in mind, the buildings were clustered together so that half of the space would be returned to nature. The result is that not only is the campus surrounded by a river, fields of green vegetables and even a tea plantation, the number of migrating birds that make their seasonal homes there is estimated to have risen from 300 to 3,000.

Another notable feature of the campus is the materials used to build it. Wang organized the collecting of more than seven million recycled bricks and tiles of every size and age from demolished buildings. The builders then worked out how to use them to build exterior walls, roofs and passageways. In reusing the materials, Wang wanted to express the idea that humans should use resources carefully as well as respect traditions and history.“This is not just simply piling up the old used stuff,” Wang explained. “A sense of time exists in them, as does cultural significance. It is a poetic and cultural expression of time and traditions.”

Wang Shu has been using recycled building materials since 2000. “Saving materials has been a virtue of Chinese people,” he said. “It is a tradition, and we should now use them wisely from an artistic and technological perspective. By reusing these bricks and tiles, we can prolong their life and consequently restore their dignity.”

In championing this kind of viewpoint, Wang Shu is using his prominent position to encourage sustainable development in architecture. Winning the Pritzker Prize will further his influence on Chinese architects and have a positive effect on Chinas urban planning. As Thomas Pritzker, trustee of the award, pointed out, “Chinas unprecedented opportunities for urban planning and design will be in harmony with both its long and unique traditions of the past and its future needs for sustainable development.”