SPACE January 2026 (No. 698)
Wang Shu (left) Lu Wenyu (right). ©ASAC- Matteo Losurdo / Image courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Chinese architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu have been jointly appointed as Artistic Directors of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Biennale in 2027. Following Japanese architect Sejima Kazuyo in 2010, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena in 2016, Lebanese architect Hashim Sarkis in 2021, and Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko in 2023, their appointment marks the fifth instance in which the role has been entrusted to non-European, non-Western architects.
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu founded the Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou in 1997. Working under the guiding principle of ‘amateurism’, the pair have committedly pursued experimental, site-driven architecture that reinterprets local contexts and vernacular building techniques through a global lens. Their work offers an alternative to large-scale demolition–based urban development by combining reclaimed materials and everyday construction methods with modern engineering, creating an architecture that bridges memory and innovation. Major works include the Ningbo Historic Museum (2008), the Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art (Phase 1: 2004; Phase 2: 2007), and the Renovation of Wencun Village (2016). The two architects have also played a pivotal role in architectural education in China. In 2003, they established the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art, which was expanded into a full School of Architecture in 2007.
In their statement following the announcement, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu remarked that contemporary architecture has become increasingly detached from reality through excessive conceptualisation and commercialisation. In response, they emphasised the importance of “a simple and true concept and method of architecture” rooted in the history and continuity of place and materials. The 20th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Biennale will take place from May 8 to Nov. 21, 2027, across the Giardini and Arsenale venues in Venice.
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