IIT College of Architecture is pleased to welcome 2012 Pritzker Prize Laureate Wang Shu at 11 am on Friday, March 29 at S.R. Crown Hall.

Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu, founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997 in Hangzhou, China. The office name references the approach an amateur builder takes—one based on spontaneity, craft skills and cultural traditions. The firm utilizes his knowledge of everyday techniques to adapt and transform materials for contemporary projects. Wang Shu is Professor and Head of the Architecture School at China Academy of Art, Hangzhou. In 2011, he became the first Chinese Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In 2012 Shu was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize an annual award recognizing “a living architect whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”  Thomas J. Pritzker said in announcing the prize that the choice of Shu “represents a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals. In addition, over the coming decades China’s success at urbanization will be important to China and to the world.”

Wang Shu will also speak at the Art Institute of Chicago on Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 pm. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.