What the work is
The Xiangshan campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou is a project of Amateur Architecture Studio, founded by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu. The Pritzker archive records its first phase in 2004 and second in 2007.
How it was made
The campus combines buildings and connecting spaces in an arrangement the prize jury compared with a small town. Its account also records roof tiles salvaged from demolished traditional houses, bringing reused material into a new institutional setting.
What works
The important unit is larger than a single façade. Exterior routes and transitions between shared and private areas can be considered as part of how learning and everyday life meet.
What does not
An award citation is an appreciative account, not a survey of student experience. Reused tiles alone also cannot establish the project’s total environmental performance; their significance should not be expanded beyond the evidence.
What it influenced
The campus formed part of the body of work discussed in the 2012 Pritzker recognition. Its value for study lies in connecting contemporary institutional architecture with material continuity and a carefully composed network of spaces.
Is it worth your time
Worth examining through plans and routes as well as photographs. Follow how one building meets the next, and keep the studio’s collaborative authorship visible. The campus is more than a collection of striking roofs.
