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 LIFE
 IDEAS, INFLUENCES AND BB
PHILOSOPHIES
 WORKS
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 Born: October 06, 1887 |
La Chaux-de-Fonds Switzerland
Pseudonym: Le Corbusier
Parents: Edouard Jeanneret
Madame Jeannerct-Perrct
He attended the Arts Decoratifs at La
Chaux-de-Fonds at the age 13 as he
was encouraged to follow his father’s
footsteps but later on his teacher
Charles L’Eplattenier encouraged him
to study architecture.
Le Corbusier, a pioneer of modern
architecture and a leader of the
international style. He was also an
accomplished swiss-French painter
and writer.

Le Corbusier was and remains along with such contemporaries as Ludwig

a highly polemical figure in Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius,
the history of modern with whom he once worked, among many
architecture. Widely praised others. His work was featured especially
as a visionary whose prominently in the landmark exhibition in
imaginative plans for urban 1932 at the Museum of Modern Art in New
agglomerations and spaces York - and subsequent book - that gave
dramatically transformed the movement its name.
our understanding of what a
city should be and could Le Corbusier’s most celebrated buildings
look like, he is equally include the Villa Savoye outside Paris,
reviled for the soulless Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France,
monotony that his strand of and the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille. He
modernism encouraged and is also known for his work in urban
the wanton destruction of planning, which included the design of
the urban fabric that he Chandigarh, India, in the 1950s.
both championed and
prompted among his
followers in urban planning
during the latter half of the
20th century.
Le Corbusier is one of the
major originators of
the International Style,
 LIFE
In 1907 Jeanneret began his Jeanneret went to Cologne in
life's extensive travels, first 1914 for the seminal Deutscher
encountering classical Werkbund exhibition, which
architecture on a visit to Italy. was organized by a group of
In the following years, he would architects, designers, and
visit many European cities, industrialists who sought to
Charles Édouard-Jeanneret was including Paris, where from integrate the decorative arts
born in the fall of 1887 (October 1908-10 he worked in the studio with industry. The exhibition
06) in the small industrial town of architect Auguste Perret, a included the Model Factory
of La Chaux-de-Fonds, in the pioneer in the use of reinforced building designed by Gropius
section of the Alps called the concrete. Jeanneret then and Adolf Meyer, which
Jura Mountains, just across the moved on to Berlin, where presented a spiral staircase
border from France. The city between 1910-11 he worked in enclosed in a glass wall with a
was known for its renowned the office of Peter Behrens, steel frame.
watchmaking industry. His arguably the most important Back in La-Chaux-de-Fonds
father - Edouard Jeanneret was architect in Germany at the after the outbreak of World
a watch engraver and time, whose great AEG Turbine War I, Jeanneret taught
enameller, and his mother – Factory, one of the seminal architecture and began working
Madame Jeannerct-Perrct early works of modern on his own studies of reinforced
worked as a music teacher. architecture, was nearing concrete; during the winter of
They encouraged their son to completion. There Jeanneret 1914-15 he developed and
study decorative arts in the first met Gropius and Mies van applied for a patent for his
hope that he would also become der Rohe, both of whom were "Dom-ino" House system of
an engraver of watchcases. also simultaneously employed construction, which consisted
Jeanneret also frequently made by Behrens. In 1911, the of slab floors of concrete raised
trips with his father into the Wasmuth Portfolio of Frank slightly above grade and
mountains around La-Chaux- Lloyd Wright's work was supported on thin reinforced
de-Fonds, becoming intimately published in Berlin, and it is pillars set back from the edges,
acquainted with nature and the said that on the day a copy so as to free up the entire
environment. arrived in Behrens' office, all facade and the interior floor
Jeanneret entered the work came to a standstill. Le space. It was the first step
Advanced Decorative Arts Corbusier was later known to towards Le Corbusier's new
Course at the Art School in La have owned a copy of the theory of modern architecture.
Chaux-de-Fonds in 1904 at the Wasmuth Portfolio. He immediately used concrete
age of 13 to follow his father’s That same year, Jeanneret for the structure of his next
footstep. Charles L’Eplattenier embarked on a trip to Eastern commission, the Villa Schwob
who had a strong influence to Europe, visiting Prague, (1916), which would prove to be
Jeanneret was his professor in Budapest, Bucharest, Athens, the last of his works in La-
the course Istanbul, among other cities, Chaux-de-Fonds. Though given
of making extensive drawings that a massive budget, Jeanneret
decorations filled some eighty sketchbooks. fought bitterly with his client,
who later These would later be compiled and in 1917 moved to Paris.
encouraged into the book Journey to the
him to enter
architecture
after his
East (1966). Back home, Le
Corbusier built several houses, PURISM
including one for his parents, (1918-1920)
three years and began to teach architecture Upon his arrival in Paris,
of study. and interior design. Jeanneret opened a studio at
L’eplattenier was Le Corbusier’s
professor in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He was
the one who decided that Le Corbusier
should become an architect and give
him his first practice on local projects
after finishing his three years of study.
 20, rue de Belzunce. The With Ozenfant he would Corbusier. Purism was a
following year he met cubist develop the movement in movement formed around 1918
painters Pablo Picasso, Georges painting called Purism, which which proposed a kind of
Braque, Juan Gris, as well as took its name undoubtedly painting in which objects are
Amédée Ozenfant. from the purity of the represented as powerful basic
geometric forms of objects forms stripped of detail.
depicted in their (largely) still- Purism reached a climax in Le
life works. In 1918 the two Corbusier’s Pavillon de l’Esprit
artists exhibited their paintings Nouveau (Pavilion of the New
together at the Galerie Thomas Spirit), built in 1925 for the
in Paris, accompanied by the International Exposition of
manifesto Après le Cubisme Decorative and Industrial Arts
(After Cubism), a critique of in Paris.
both Cubism and Futurism.
Ozenfant was a cubist painter that
Purism was led by Amédéé
developed the movement in painting Ozenfant and Architect Le
called Purism, which took its name
undoubtedly from the purity of the
geometric forms of objects depicted in
their (largely) still-life works. Le Corbusier had developed the scale of proportion devised by
use of the golden ration of the him. He used as basis the
ANTHROPOMETRICS modular system for the scale of
architectural proportion. The
height of an English man with
arm raised.
modulor is an anthropometric

IDEAS, INFLUENCES AND PHILOSOPHIES

As a gifted architect, load-bearing walls, and closed sections that
provocative writer, divisive allowing architects to allow the facade to
urban planner, talented make more use of floor actively connect or
painter, and unparalleled space. separate interior and
polemicist, Le Corbusier was exterior design
able to influence some of the elements.
2.
world’s most powerful figures,
leaving an indelible mark on With the walls freed of
4.
architecture that can be seen their structural role, a
in almost any city worldwide. free plan should be The
In L’Esprit Nouveau, Le employed; achieved
Corbusier first developed his through the separation horizontal ribbon
famous “five points of of the load-bearing window, enabled by the
architecture,” which can be columns from the walls free facade, should be
briefly summarized as follows: subdividing the space. used to light rooms
evenly; cut through non
1. Raise load-bearing walls,
3. these strips provide
the building on “pilotis,”
freeing the walls of even light and
Similarly,
their structural panoramic views.
function; a grid of the facade should be
columns to replace designed freely; open
 Architecture: A Critical History,favoring exposed concrete and
5.
Kenneth Frampton separates Le monumental scale. Widely
The roof Corbusier’s body of work into adopted and adapted by Le
two chapters, leading up to Corbusier’s many followers, the
should be flat and host 1930 and from 1930-1960. style came to be known as
a roof garden, replacing Frampton argues that in the “Brutalism,” so named for the
the ground space that is Weekend House completed in French Béton Brut meaning raw
occupied by the the suburbs of Paris in 1935, concrete.
building; a flat roof “the vernacular was being It was during this period of
covered in vegetation, consciously embraced for its around 15 years that Le
which keeps moisture material articulation, for its Corbusier completed many of
consistent and capacity to enrich the abstract his most admired works,
regulates temperature. and reductive nature of the including the Unité
purist style... From now on the d’habitation in Marseille (as
In 1923, Le Corbusier published juxtaposition of contrasting well as similar designs in
his seminal book Vers une materials became an essential Nantes-Rezé, Berlin, Briey and
architecture, commonly aspect of Le Corbusier’s style, Firminy), the chapel of Notre
translated into English as not only as an expressive Dame du Haut in Ronchamp,
“Towards a New Architecture.” ‘pallette’ but also as a means ofthe convent of La Tourette and
In this book, he elucidated his building.” the Carpenter Center for the
vision for architecture inspired Visual Arts, his only building in
by the emerging modern era, He also had his three (3) Major the United States.
applying the principles of cars, Architectural Discoveries: Throughout his career,
planes, and ships to buildings. It 1. The contrast between alongside his architectural
was here that he proclaimed large collective space work Le Corbusier was a fierce
the house as a “machine for and individual and radical campaigner for new
living in,” summarizing his compartmentalized visions of modernist urban
early approach to design and spaces, an observation planning.
defining the fundamental that formed the basis Like his early architectural
attitude of Modernist for his vision of work, Le Corbusier’s urban
architecture. residential buildings designs were focused on purely
Of the many structures and later became vastly functional design and gave
completed by Le Corbusier in influential. great primacy to the
his early period, none is more 2. Classical proportion via automobile. His first plan, the
successful in demonstrating his renaissance “Ville Contemporaine” was
five points of architecture than architecture. designed in 1922, and in 1925 he
the Villa Savoye, completed in 3. Geometric forms and designed the “Plan Voisin,”
1931. the use of landscape as which proposed to destroy a
Raising the main living spaces an architectural tool. large area of central Paris to be
off the ground, the lowest floor During the 1930s and the replaced with a grid of
features a swooping curve Second World War, Le Corbusier modernist towers, set in a park
designed to accommodate the completed fewer buildings than and connected by a network of
turning circle of a car, while in his fertile early years, but raised highways.
the roof can be accessed by a the end of the war saw an Ten years later, Le Corbusier
ramp. explosion in commissions. By expanded this design into the
However, while the Villa Savoye now, however, he was working hypothetical “Ville Radieuse,”
marks the high point of Le in a very different style to the and these proposals would go
Corbusier’s early ideals, it also smooth, machine-like on to influence the design of
marked the end of that period modernism of the 1920s,
of his work. In his book Modern
his “Unités” as self-contained synthesis of his architectural “architect-polemicist” who
villages for entire communities. and urban planning visions helped lay the groundwork for
Le Corbusier’s urban planning when he was invited to current figures such as Rem
forms the basis for much of the complete the design of Koolhaas to emerge. [2] As a
criticism of his work and his Chandigarh, the new capital of result Alan Plattus, in his
life. Using his power as a key the state of Punjab in India. introduction to Deborah Gans’
member of the Congres Le Corbusier designed a book The Le Corbusier Guide
Internationaux d’Architecture functional city layout, and for proclaims:
Moderne (CIAM), Le Corbusier the city’s Capitol he designed “The effect of half a century of
presented his principles for the three buildings himself: the commentary, criticism,
functional city in his Athens Secretariat Building, the Palace research and design has not
Charter, so named after the of the Assembly, and the High been so much to situate Le
group’s destination for their Court. Corbusier as to dissolve him
fourth meeting in 1933. Le Corbusier’s influence on into the collective bloodstream
The Athens Charter became a contemporary architecture is of the century… Le Corbusier
foundational document for immeasurable. He helped form has become not so much an
modern city planning, and in Le the basis of almost all object for our discourse as part
Corbusier’s name cities all over modernist architecture and of the very ground upon which
the world were modernized— urban planning, with almost all that discourse must be
replacing traditional, organic contemporary theory founded.”
and often impoverished essentially acting as a
neighborhoods with high-rise continuation of, or a rejection
modernist social housing of, his ideals. Beyond that, he
blocks, to varying degrees of established the very way in
success. which architecture is now
In the 1950s, Le Corbusier was practiced: writer Hal Foster
finally able to realize a refers to Le Corbusier as an

WORKS
concrete. As an exemplar surviving several proposals to
of Le Corbusier's "five demolish it, it was designated
points" for new as an official French historical
constructions, the villa is monument in 1965 (a rare
representative of the event, as Le Corbusier was still
origins of modern living at the time). It was
architecture and is one of thoroughly renovated between
the most easily 1985 and 1997, and the
recognizable and refurbished house is now open
renowned examples of the to visitors year-round under
Villa Savoye is a modernist villa International style. The house the care of the Centre des
in Poissy, on the outskirts of was originally built as a monuments nationaux.
Paris, France. It was designed country retreat for the Savoye In July 2016, the house and
by the Swiss architects Le family. After being purchased several other works by Le
Corbusier and his cousin, Pierre by the neighbouring school, it Corbusier were registered as
Jeanneret and built between became the property of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
1928 and 1931 using reinforced French state in 1958. After
One of the most important buildings by architect Le
Corbusier from the 17 that have been to UNESCO's
World Heritage List is Villa Savoye, the top-heavy
weekend retreat created as a Modernist version of
the French country house.
Photograph by Flickr user August Fischer
Completed in 1931, Villa Savoye is one of the most
important houses of the 20th century. A key building
in the development of the International Style of
Modernism, it is one of the only houses in France to
have been declared a national monument during the
architect's lifetime.
Designed as a weekend holiday home for the Savoye
family, it was the last building in Le Corbusier's Photograph by Flickr user August Fischer
"white villas" series of private homes and was
created in collaboration with his cousin Pierre
Jeanneret, who worked with Le Corbusier on a
number of his most famous projects.
The house occupies a site in Poissy, a small
commune outside of Paris, in a field that was
originally surrounded by woodland.
The client's brief included few restrictions, giving Le
Corbusier the freedom to realize a house that
expressed his Five Points of architecture – the key
features he felt necessary for Modern architecture. Photograph by Flickr user
Esther Westerveld
These include pilotis that lift the building up above
the ground, a flat roof that could serve as a garden
and terrace, open-plan interiors, ribbon windows for
light and ventilation, and a free facade independent
of the load-bearing structure.
Villa Savoye is also a demonstration of Le Corbusier's
belief in the home as a "machine for living in" – a
concept based on the architect's admiration for well-
built automobiles and trans-Atlantic steamships. Photograph by Flickr user End User
This is expressed through spatial planning – with
spaces arranged to maximize efficiency – and a
minimalistic aesthetic.
A row of slender reinforced concrete columns
supports the upper level, which is painted white. The
lower level is set back and painted green like the
surrounding forest to create the perception of a
floating volume above.
The curved, sliding glazing at ground level matches
the turning radius of automobiles of 1929. This
enabled the owner to drive underneath the larger
volume and easily pull into the integrated garage. It
is also a nod to Le Corbusier's interest in car design.
Photograph by Flickr user
Yo Gomi
Photograph by Flickr user The lower level is dedicated to the maintenance and
Esther Westerveld
service programs of the house, while the living
spaces are located on the upper level.
Strips of windows – a common feature in Le
Corbusier's work – are designed to open by sliding
over each other and are placed in the middle of the
facade on the upper level to bring in as much light as
possible.
A series of ramps, as well as a sculptural spiral
Photograph by Flickr user Victortsu
staircase, connect the two floors, and are intended to
provide a gradual movement between levels.
On the first floor, a large sliding glass wall opens the
living spaces to an outdoor terrace. From here, a
ramp leads to rooftop garden, which is encased by
curved walls. A large triangle of windows offers
views from the ramp to the spaces inside.
Photograph by R Grelaud, courtesy
of UNESCO
The interiors feature block planes of color and fitted
furniture that was also designed by the architect.
The house was included in the seminal 1932 book The
International Style: Architecture Since 1922 by
American historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and
architect Philip Johnson, coinciding with their
Modern Architecture: International Exhibition at
New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Photograph by Flickr user End User
The duo were the first to define the particular type
of Modernism encapsulated in Villa Savoye,
characterized by deceptively simple rectilinear
forms, cantilevers, open-plan living spaces, and the
lack of ornamentation and decoration.
Villa Savoye fell into disrepair after the Second
World War and was restored by the French state
Photograph by Flickr user
from 1963 to 1997. In 1964, while Le Corbusier was
Esther Westerveld
still alive, it was listed as a historic monument.

Photograph by Flickr user M Louis

 bearing walls and the
supporting beams for
the ceiling.
Le Corbusier was just
27 when he conceived
of the Dom-ino – so
called because the
The Dom-Ino House is an open houses could be
floor plan modular structure joined end to end like
designed by noted dominos, and
architect Le Corbusier in 1914– hyphenated to
1915. This model proposed an combine "domus" and
open floor plan consisting of "innovation".
concrete slabs supported by a By November 1914,
minimal number of thin, one fifth of the
reinforced concrete columns Belgian population
around the edges, with a was homeless. Corb's solution Max Du Bois' concrete firm.
stairway providing access to was almost painfully simple: a This would be a housing
each level on one side of the standardized, two-storey assembly line, like the one
floor plan. The frame was to house made up of concrete Henry Ford had invented only
be completely independent of slabs supported on columns the year before. But it wasn’t
the floor plans of the houses and a staircase. That was it – to be. Failing to find any
thus giving freedom to design no walls, no rooms, just a backers, he was forced to
the interior configuration. The skeleton. He hoped to patent abandon the idea.
model eliminated load- the idea and make his fortune
in partnership with his friend

Unité d’Habitation is a designed by him

modernist residential housing throughout Europe
design principle developed by with this name. The
Le Corbusier, with the most famous of
collaboration of painter- these developments
architect Nadir Afonso. The is located in south
concept formed the basis of Marseille.
several housing developments
Brutalism: Le Corbusier's first
Unité d'Habitation is arguably
z
the most influential Brutalist
building of all time. With its Rather than employing the smooth
human proportions, chunky white surfaces that typified many of his
pilotis and interior "streets", it buildings, Le Corbusier chose to create
redefined high-density housing the building in béton-brut concrete,
by reimagining a city inside an which was textured by the wooden
18-storey slab block. planks that had provided its formwork.
Completed in 1952 in Marseille, This prevented the need for a steel
the building took Le Corbusier's frame, making it the most cost-efficient
most famous quote – that a solution.
house is "a machine for living in" In an address to council minister Eugène
– and applied it to an entire Claudius-Petit on the day of the project
community. The result was a handover, the architect described the
self-contained concrete vessel building as "the first manifestation of an
that is structured like an ocean environment suited to modern life".
liner.
"Made for men, it is made to the human
The architect called the building scale," he said. "It has also the
La Cité Radieuse, or "the radiant robustness which is inherent in modern
city", and it has successfully technique, and it shows the new
accommodated a mix of uses splendour of bare concrete."
ever since completion. Its 337
apartments can accommodate La Cité Radieuse is located at the heart
1,600 residents, but it also of a large park. With a length of 165
boasts two shopping streets, a metres and a height of 56 metres, it
hotel and a rooftop terrace. rises over the surrounding treetops with
its base raised up on pilotis and its two
Le Corbusier believed the tower main elevations facing east and west.
block was the solution for
rehousing the masses that had These elevations comprise a series of
been displaced during the balconies and deep-set windows that
Second World War, and that reveal the spacing of the internal floor
high rise building could be used plates. Le Corbusier developed this grid
to create spacious city homes using a proportional measurement
with the same amenities as a system based on his Modulor Man – a
typical street. concept that combined the proportions
of a six foot tall human figure with the
With Unité, his aim was twofold. mathematics of the golden section.
To "provide with silence and
solitude before the sun, space Inside, narrow flats are mostly arranged
and greenery, a dwelling which as two-storey duplexes with a double-
will be the perfect receptacle for height living room at one end. One level
the family", and to "set up, in of each apartment stretches the full 21-
God's good nature, under the sky metre depth of the block, creating a
layout where pairs of homes interlock
and in the sun, a magisterial
around a central access corridor.
work of architecture, the
product of rigour, grandeur, Unlike a typical apartment block, this
nobility, happiness and arrangement meant that these access
elegance". corridors – known as "streets" – only
needed be accommodated on every third
floor. There are just five in total.
 the building with its Three thick white walls curl
surroundings. The lighting in inwards from the outside to
the interior is soft and create smaller chapels at the
indirect, from the clerestory sides of the main space. Two
windows and reflecting off the sit on either side of the north
whitewashed walls of the entrance and one in the south-
chapels with projecting east corner next to the main
towers. The structure is built entrance.
mostly of concrete and stone.
Notre Dame du Haut - is a The interior of one of the
Roman Catholic chapel in It is considered one of the chapels is painted bright red
Ronchamp, France. Built in most important buildings of and the sacristy on the north
1955, it is one of the finest the 20th century, and side is painted violet – echoing
examples of the architecture of represents a key shift away the bright sections of colour in
Franco-Swiss architect Le from the sparse, functionalist the architect's Dominican
Corbusier. The chapel is a form of Modernism that Le Monastery of La Tourette.
working religious building and Corbusier displayed in his
The floor follows the slope of
is under the guardianship of earlier projects.
the site towards the main
the private foundation
The main structure consists of altar, and is covered with a
Association de l’Œuvre de
thick masonry walls, which are concrete surface that was
Notre-Dame du Haut. It
curved to improve stability and poured on site and divided into
attracts 80,000 visitors each
provide structural support. a gridded pattern based on the
year. The chapel is a simple
architect's Modulor system of
design with two entrances, a The monumental curved
proportions.
main altar, and three chapels concrete roof is a shell
beneath towers. Although the structure supported by An irregular arrangement of
building is small, it is powerful columns hidden in the walls. A windows is scattered across
and complex. The structure is gap underneath allows a sliver the walls. These are glazed
made mostly of concrete and is of light to filter into the with a mixture of clear and
comparatively small, enclosed interior. coloured glass.
by thick walls, with the
upturned roof supported on
columns embedded within
the walls, like a sail billowing
in the windy currents on the
hill top. In the interior, the
spaces left between the
walls and roof are filled with
clerestory windows, as well
Although its external
as the asymmetric light from
appearance suggests a
the wall openings, serve to
complicated layout, the
further reinforce the sacred
interior is fairly simple in plan.
nature of the space and
reinforce the relationship of
Carpenter Center for the central mass. This problem street. The Quincy Street view,
Visual Arts - at Harvard auditorium reconciled by however, reveals ondulatoires
University, in Cambridge, using a pinwheel effect so on this studio's exterior curve,
Massachusetts is the only that in the finally executed which interfere with the
building actually designed by design, the two halves meet building's curve less than the
Le Corbusier in the United at a vertical core that houses brise-soleil do on the opposite
States, and one of only two in an elevator. The concrete side. On the ramp from Quincy
the Americas (the other is the ramp is cantilevered from Street just before entering the
Curutchet House in La Plata, this central spine and stands building, one sees grids of
Argentina). Because the atop a few pilotis. The square and rectangles of the
Carpenter Center was to be landing at the top of the windows, brise-soleils, and
his only building in America, ramp is located in the core of studio spaces, rather than the
Le Corbusier felt it should be the building and leads to curves of the two halves of the
a synthesis of his various studios and building.
architectural principles and exhibition spaces seen
therefore incorporated his through glass windows and
Five Points into its design. doors, providing views into
The allotted space was quite the building's instructional
small, so the completed and displaying functions
building presents itself as a without interrupting the
compact, roughly cylindrical activities in progress.
mass bisected by an S-shaped The exterior of the Carpenter
ramp on the third floor. Le Center presents itself very
Corbusier's earliest design differently from different
showed a much more angles. From Prescott Street
pronounced ramp that looking toward the curved
further separated the two studio space, one can see the
parts of the central mass.
brise-soleil that are placed
However, the early design
perpendicular to the direction
created the problem of too
much disruption of the of the central portion of the
ramp, making only their
narrow ends visible from the
 1923: Villa La Roche,  1952: Unité  In 1937, Le Corbusier
Paris, France d'Habitation of Nantes- was named Chevalier
 1925: Villa Jeanneret, Rezé, Nantes, France of the Légion
Paris, France  1952–1959: Buildings in d'honneur.
 1928: Villa Savoye, Chandigarh, India
Poissy-sur-Seine,  1952: Palace of Justice  In 1945, he was
France  1952: Museum and promoted to Officier of
 1929: Cité du Refuge, Gallery of Art the Légion d'honneur.
Armée du Salut, Paris,  1953: Secretariat  In 1952, he was
France Building promoted to
 1931: Palace of the  1953: Governor's Palace Commandeur of the
Soviets, Moscow, USSR  1955: Palace of Légion d'honneur.
(project) Assembly
 1931: Immeuble Clarté,   On 2 July 1964, Le
Geneva, Switzerland Corbusier was named
 1959: Government
 1933: Tsentrosoyuz, Grand Officier of the
College of Art (GCA)
Moscow, USSR Légion d'honneur.
and the Chandigarh
 1947–1952: Unité College of Architecture
d'Habitation, Marseille, (CCA)  He received the Frank
France P. Brown Medal and
 1957: Maison du Brésil,
 1949–1952: United AIA Gold Medal in 1961.
Cité Universitaire,
Nations headquarters, Paris, France
New York City, U.S.  The University of
 1957–1960: Sainte
(Consultant) Cambridge awarded Le
Marie de La Tourette,
 1949–1953: Curutchet Corbusier an honorary
near Lyon, France (with
House, La Plata, degree in June 1959.
Iannis Xenakis)
Argentina (project  1957: Unité
manager: Amancio d'Habitation of Berlin-
Williams) Charlottenburg,
 1950–1954: Chapelle Flatowallee 16, Berlin,
Notre Dame du Haut, Germany
Ronchamp, France  1962: Carpenter Center
 1951: Maisons Jaoul, for the Visual Arts at
Neuilly-sur-Seine, Harvard University,
France Cambridge,
 1951: Buildings in Massachusetts, U.S.
Ahmedabad, India  1964–1969: Firminy-
 1951: Sanskar Kendra Vert, France
Museum, Ahmedabad  1964: Unité
 1951: ATMA House d'Habitation of Firminy
 1951: Villa Sarabhai,  1965: Maison de la
Ahmedabad culture de Firminy-
 1951: Villa Shodhan, Vert
Ahmedabad  1967: Heidi Weber
 1951: Villa of Chinubhai Museum (Centre Le
Chimanlal, Ahmedabad Corbusier), Zürich,
Switzerland
 LIFE
 IDEAS, INFLUENCES,
AND PHILOSOPHIES
 WORKS
Born: October 09, 1939 |
Hove, East Sussex 9, England

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE, PPRA (born 9

October 1939) is a prominent English
architect, particularly noted for several
modernist buildings, including London's
Waterloo International railway station
and the Eden Project in Cornwall.[1] He
was President of the Royal Academy from
2004 to 2011.[2] He was chairman of
Grimshaw Architects (formerly Nicholas
Grimshaw & Partners) from its
foundation to 2019, when he was
succeeded by Andrew Whalley. He is a
recipient of the RIBA Gold Medal.
LIFE
Sweden in 1963 and the United In December 2004, Grimshaw
States in 1964. He graduated was elected President of the
from the AA in 1965 with an Royal Academy of Arts, a
honours diploma, and having position he held until 2011.
entered into a partnership Grimshaw is behind the
with Terry Farrell, he joined National Institute for Research
the Royal Institute of British into Aquatic Habitats (NIRAH)
Architects two years later in design.
1967.

He worked with Farrell for 15

years before establishing his
Grimshaw was born in Hove, own firm, Nicholas Grimshaw &
East Sussex 9 October 1939. Partners, in 1980. In 1989, he
His father was an engineer, won a Royal Institute of
and his mother a portrait British Architects national
painter and he inherited an award for his design of the
interest in engineering and Financial Times printworks in
art. One of his great- East London. After designing
grandfathers was a civil Britain's pavilion for the
engineer who built dams in Seville Expo in 1992, he was
Egypt, and another was a appointed a CBE in 1993, and
physician who campaigned for the following year saw his
the installation of Dublin's Waterloo railway terminal
drainage and sanitation awarded the accolade of
system after showing a link 'Building of the Year'. That
between waterborne diseases same year (1994) also saw him
and streams joining River elected a vice-chairman of the
Liffey. His father died when he Architectural Association, a
was two and a half, and he member of the Royal Academy
grew up with his mother, and a member of the American
grandmother who was also a Institute of Architects.
portrait painter, and two
sisters in Guildford. He Grimshaw's architecture
displayed an early interest in practice continues to grow; it
construction; his boyhood has a global profile, with
interests included Meccano, offices in London, New York,
building tree houses and Melbourne and Sydney. The
boats. work of Nicholas Grimshaw &
Partners was the subject of a
He was educated at Wellington series of monographs
College, and left when he was published by Phaidon Press:
17. From 1959 to 1962, he Architecture, Industry and
studied at the Edinburgh Innovation deals with the
College of Art before winning a years 1965–1988; Structure
scholarship to attend the Space and Skin covers 1988–
Architectural Association 1993; and Equilibrium looks at
School of Architecture in work up until 2000.
London, where he won further
scholarships to travel to
IDEAS, INFLUENCES AND PHILOSOPHIES
“Millions of people a year use
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw their handmade glasses ever our buildings (the number is
founded Grimshaw in 1980. since. I like colour and natural so big because many of the
This architecture practice is fabrics and my preference is buildings are transport
renowned for its innovation for Equipment silk shirts, in a buildings, such as railways and
and a rigourous approach to huge range of colours. When I airports) and the real
detailing; the company’s work was President of the Royal judgement on whether they
is underpinned by the Academy (from 2004-2011) I are successful or not is by the
principles of humane, also discovered some people who use them. If they
enduring and sustainable wonderful tailors on Savile are wear well, are efficient and
design. Row, just around the corner easily cleaned, you are only
from the Academy, and I dealing with the basic
PERSONAL STYLE invested in some handmade requirements. Big public
“When I was studying at the suits.” buildings need something
AA in London in the 1960s, my poetic about them, so that
tutor Peter Cook introduced What makes a project somebody rushing through
me to Tony Gross, who had successful? What would be them can get some small
just opened Cutler and Gross your advice to someone who is element of joy on every day of
on Holloway Road (just looking to refurbish his house their working life.”
opposite the Polytechnic of and is looking for an architect?
North London) and I have worn

WORKS
The Eden Project is a popular visitor attraction in Cornwall,
England, UK. Inside the two biomes are plants that are
collected from many diverse climates and environments. The
project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located 2 km
(1.2 mi) from the town of St Blazey and 5 km (3 mi) from the
larger town of St Austell.
The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting
of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species,
and each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The biomes
consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated,
plastic cells supported by steel frames. The largest of the two
biomes simulates a rainforest environment and the second, a
Mediterranean environment. The attraction also has an
outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and
wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also has
many plants that provide an important and interesting
backstory, for example, those with a prehistoric heritage.
There are plans to build an Eden Project North in the seaside
town of Morecambe, Lancashire, with a focus on the marine
environment.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION *The Tropical Biome, covers simply wash off in the rain. If
1.56 ha (3.9 acres) and required, cleaning can be
The project was conceived by
measures 55 m (180 ft) high, performed by abseilers.
Tim Smit and designed by
100 m (328 ft) wide, and 200 m Although the ETFE is
architect Nicholas Grimshaw
(656 ft) long. It is used for susceptible to punctures,
and engineering firm Anthony
tropical plants, such as these can be easily fixed with
Hunt and Associates (now part
fruiting banana plants, coffee, ETFE tape. The structure is
of Sinclair Knight Merz). Davis
rubber and giant bamboo, and completely self-supporting,
Langdon carried out the
is kept at a tropical with no internal supports, and
project management, Sir
temperature and moisture takes the form of a geodesic
Robert McAlpine and Alfred
level. structure. The panels vary in
McAlpine did the construction,
size up to 9 m (29.5 ft) across,
MERO designed and built the *The Mediterranean Biome
with the largest at the top of
biomes, and Arup was the covers 0.654 ha (1.6 acres) and
the structure.
services engineer, economic measures 35 m (115 ft) high, 65
consultant, environmental m (213 ft) wide, and 135 m (443 The ETFE technology was
engineer and transportation ft) long. It houses familiar supplied and installed by the
engineer. Land Use warm temperate and arid firm Vector Foiltec, which is
Consultants led the plants such as olives and also responsible for ongoing
masterplan and landscape grape vines and various maintenance of the cladding.
design. The project took 2½ sculptures. The steel spaceframe and
years to construct and opened cladding package (with Vector
The Outdoor Gardens
to the public on 17 March 2001. Foiltec as ETFE subcontractor)
represent the temperate
was designed, supplied and
regions of the world with
installed by MERO (UK) PLC,
plants such as tea, lavender,
SITE who also jointly developed the
hops, hemp, and sunflowers, as
overall scheme geometry with
Layout well as local plant species.
the architect, Nicholas
Once into the attraction, there The covered biomes are Grimshaw & Partners.
is a meandering path with constructed from a tubular
The entire build project was
views of the two biomes, steel (hex-tri-hex) with mostly
managed by McAlpine Joint
planted landscapes, including hexagonal external cladding
Venture.
vegetable gardens, and panels made from the
sculptures that include a giant thermoplastic ETFE. Glass was The Core
bee and previously The WEEE avoided due to its weight and
The Core is the latest addition
Man (removed in 2016), a potential dangers. The
to the site and opened in
towering figure made from old cladding panels themselves
September 2005. It provides
electrical appliances and was are created from several layers
the Eden Project with an
meant to represent the of thin UV-transparent ETFE
education facility,
average electrical waste used film, which are sealed around
incorporating classrooms and
by one person in a lifetime. their perimeter and inflated to
exhibition spaces designed to
create a large cushion. The
Biomes help communicate Eden's
resulting cushion acts as a
central message about the
At the bottom of the pit are thermal blanket to the
relationship between people
two covered biomes: structure. The ETFE material is
and plants. Accordingly, the
resistant to most stains, which
building has taken its
inspiration from plants, most upon the geometric and 3 miles (4.5km) into the
noticeable in the form of the mathematical principles that granite crust underneath
soaring timber roof, which underlie plant growth. Eden. Funding has been
gives the building its secured and drilling is set to
distinctive shape. begin in summer 2020. Eden
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS co-founder, Sir Tim Smit said,
Grimshaw developed the
“Since we began, Eden has had
geometry of the copper-clad The biomes provide diverse
a dream that the world should
roof in collaboration with a growing conditions, and many
be powered by renewable
sculptor, Peter Randall-Page, plants are on display.
energy. The sun can provide
and Mike Purvis of structural
The Eden Project includes massive solar power and the
engineers SKM Anthony Hunts.
environmental education wind has been harnessed by
It is derived from phyllotaxis,
focusing on the humankind for thousands of
which is the mathematical
interdependence of plants and years, but because both are
basis for nearly all plant
people; plants are labelled intermittent and battery
growth; the "opposing spirals"
with their medicinal uses. The technology cannot yet store all
found in many plants such as
massive amounts of water we need there is a gap. We
the seeds in a sunflower's
required to create the humid believe the answer lies
head, pine cones and
conditions of the Tropical beneath our feet in the heat
pineapples. The copper was
Biome, and to serve the toilet underground that can be
obtained from traceable
facilities, are all sanitised rain accessed by drilling
sources, and the Eden Project
water that would otherwise technology that pumps water
is working with Rio Tinto
collect at the bottom of the towards the centre of the
Group to explore the
quarry. The only mains water Earth and brings it back up
possibility of encouraging
used is for hand washing and superheated to provide us
further traceable supply
for cooking. The complex also with heat and electricity.”
routes for metals, which would
uses Green Tariff Electricity –
enable users to avoid metals
the energy comes from one of
mined unethically. The
the many wind turbines in
services and acoustic,
Cornwall, which were among
mechanical, and electrical
the first in Europe.
engineering design was
carried out by Buro Happold. In December 2010 the Eden
Project received permission to
Art at the core
build a geothermal electricity
The Core is also home to art plant which will generate
exhibitions throughout the approx 4MWe, enough to
year. A permanent installation supply Eden and about 5000
entitled Seed, by Peter households. The project will
Randall-Page, occupies the involve geothermal heating as
anteroom. Seed is a large, 70 well as geothermal electricity.
tons egg-shaped stone Cornwall Council and the
installation standing some 13 European Union came up with
feet (4.0 m) tall and displaying the greater part of £16.8m
a complex pattern of required to start the project.
protrusions that are based First a well will be sunk nearly
 Thermae Bath Spa is a
combination of the historic spa
and a contemporary building in
the city of Bath, England, and
re-opened in 2006. Bath and
North East Somerset council
own the buildings, and, as
decreed in a Royal Charter of
1590, are the guardians of the
spring waters, which are the
only naturally hot, mineral-rich
waters in the UK. The Spa is
operated by YTL Hotels.

The main spa building, the New

Royal Bath, was designed by
Grimshaw Architects and is
constructed in Bath stone,
enclosed by a glass envelope. It
has two natural thermal baths,
an open-air rooftop pool and an
indoor pool, and a large
Wellness Suite with two
aromatic steam rooms, an Ice
Chamber, Infrared Sauna and a
Celestial Relaxation Room. It
also has a cafe, three relaxation
areas, and 27 spa treatment
rooms, including the 18th
century Hot Bath, in which
water-based massage such as
Watsu takes place. The separate
Cross Bath is a grade I listed
Georgian building containing
one open-air thermal bath.
Development
With the approach of the Millennium, money from the National Lottery-funded Millennium
Commission was made available towards a major project to reopen a safe commercial spa once
more, supplemented by funds from subscribers and from the local authority.
Originally planned to open in 2002, and despite a formal opening with the aid of the "Three
Tenors" in 2003, the project ran seriously behind schedule and over budget as a result of a
variety of legal disputes with contractors: the project's budgeted costs spiralled from an
estimated £13 million in September 1996 to a final cost of £45 million.
 The National Space Streak and PGM-17 Thor
Centre is a museum and rockets.
educational resource Digital Visualization
covering the fields of
space science and The Centre's own digital
astronomy, along with a visualization team, NSC
space research program Creative, make all the
in partnership with the "fulldome" planetarium shows
University of Leicester. shown at the Centre. By 2011,
It is located on the north NSC Creative fulldome shows
side the city of Leicester, are playing in over 220
England, next to the planetaria in 27 countries
River Soar. Many of the worldwide. These productions
exhibits, including include the official
upright rockets, are International Year of
housed in a tower with Astronomy (IYA2009)
minimal steel supports planetarium show "We are
and a semi-transparent Astronomers" which was
cladding of ETFE funded by the UK Science and
'pillows' which has Technology Facilities Council
become one of (STFC).
Leicester's most Near Earth objects
recognizable landmarks.
The failed Beagle 2 Mars
spacecraft was controlled
Main Exhibits
from the centre's Landing
The Centre has on display one Operations Control Centre. UK
of only three known Soyuz Government's official Near-
spacecraft in the West (there Earth object (NEO) Information
is one in France at the Cité de Centre is also based at the
l'espace and another one in centre.
the United States at the
Smithsonian Institution as
part of their Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project display).
The centre has six main
galleries of exhibits and visitor
activities covering space
flight, astronomy and
cosmology. The attraction also
includes a Digistar 3 dome
cinema and planetarium, a gift
shop and a restaurant. The
restaurant is situated beneath
the two nozzles of the Blue
Waterloo International
Station was the London
terminus of the Eurostar
international rail service
from its opening on 14
November 1994 until it DESIGN
closed on 13 November
2007 when it was British Rail developed a series of concepts during the late 1980s
replaced by St Pancras as with an initial location at the opposite end of the concourse.
the terminal for A more appropriate location was subsequently defined as at
international rail present but at first incorporating an existing staff building
services. It stands on the alongside Platform 10 while displacing the Armstrong lift that
western side of Waterloo was on the site and had provided the means of allowing
railway station, but was Waterloo City Line stock to be raised up from the tunnels below.
managed and branded
separately from the Before long, the existing staff building as well as the lift were
main-line station. abandoned but the new terminal was already then taking the
form initially of a cable-stayed, flat-roofed structure and was
In August 2017, the the basis for the final stage of the Hybrid Parliamentary Bill as
buildings and platforms it passed through the House of Lords and as featured in a press
were incorporated into release at the time.
the main Waterloo
station when the The in-house design team assisted by Sir Alexander Gibb and
platforms reopened Partners as traffic Engineers co-opted the services of Anthony
during the works at Hunt so as to take the dynamic structure forward. However the
platforms 1-8. The BR architects felt that a cable stayed structure, while in vogue
platforms closed again on at the time, might not be so innovative with an operational
5 September 2017. After a opening then planned for May 1993.
period of redevelopment, Security issues as well as structural and the above
they were scheduled to consideration led the designers to review alternative structural
be permanently re- forms that might meet the evolving brief. An arch structure had
opened in December 2018 its appeal in that an arch-based tracery was subtly evident at
as part of the main Waterloo over the approach road and was more likely to be
station. Platforms 20–22 fresher than a cable-stayed option by the time the terminal was
re-opened as part of the ready for use in the early to mid 1990s. Arches were not the
main station on 10 vogue in the early 1980s.
December 2018 and
platforms 23-24 on 20 The form selected was soon to be based on a series of lattice
May 2019. arches of decreasing sizes and each connected with a Teflon
membrane. Additional transparency was to be provided by
glazing over each of the lattice arches.
The five-track configuration implied each arch grounding
alongside the track but creating a challenge in avoiding a
potential clash between the kinetic envelope of the anticipated
new rolling stock and the "shed" structure.
BR's in-house architects however established this wind-sock
form as the basis for briefing external architectural practices
competing for the detail design stage that followed. Also, along
the way, the use of Teflon was abandoned in favour of a
stainless steel covering.
Ecorium is an innovative maximize the internal daylight
environmental visitor level. This practice promotes
attraction at the National vigorous plant growth and
Ecology Center in Seocheon, eliminates the need for
South Korea. The project, supplemental electrical
which was secured through a lighting. With the vision of
turnkey design and build becoming a hub for education
competition hosted by Korea’s and research on ecology,
Ministry of the Environment, Ecorium plays an important
uses nature as an immersive role in providing opportunities
teaching tool to showcase the for visitors to have a hands-on
world’s diverse ecosystems. experience of various
Grimshaw was appointed by ecological environments
Samsung Construction and around the world and learn
worked alongside Samoo the importance of
Architects and Engineers. The conservation.
project concept is inspired by
the form of an oxbow lake, an
aquatic body created by the
evolving erosion of a
meandering river. The
masterplan guides the visitor
flow through a series of
botanical gardens and into
Ecorium. Visitors travel
through five biomes, seeing,
hearing, smelling and touching
flora and fauna from the
tropical rainforest, cloud
forest, dry tropics, cool
temperate and Antarctic
regions. The enclosures were
consciously designed as a
continuous series, utilizing
climatic zones to emphasize
diversity while maintaining
the connections between
regions present in nature.
Ecorium is completely unique
in its physical form and design
characteristics and a model of
efficient green design in
operation. Steel arches
delineate the ridgeline of each
biome enclosure, supporting a
light weight glazing system to
 125 Park Road, London  Pier 4A, Heathrow  Thermae Bath Spa,
(1968); joint project Airport, (1994) Bath (2006)
with Terry Farrell  Berlin Stock Exchange,  Experimental Media
 Herman Miller Factory, Berlin, Germany (1997) and Performing Arts
Bath (1976); joint  Lord's Cricket Ground Center, Troy, New York
project with Terry Grandstand, London (2007)
Farrell[5] (1998)  igus Headquarters and
 BMW (UK)  Heathrow Terminal 3 Factory, Cologne,
headquarters, (1998) Germany (2000)
Bracknell (1980)  North Woolwich  University College
 Oxford Ice Rink, Oxford pumping station, London Cancer
(1984) London Docklands Institute, England
 Financial Times (1998) (2007)
Printworks, Blackwall,  Bilbao Bus Station,  London School of
London (1988) Bilbao, Spain (1999) Economics New
 Rank Xerox Research  Eden Project, Cornwall, Academic Building,
Centre, Welwyn Garden (2001) England (2008)
City (1988)  Frankfurt Trade Fair  Pulkovo Airport, St
 J. Sainsbury's Hall, Frankfurt, Petersburg, Russia
supermarket, Camden Germany (2001) (2007)
Town, London (1988)  Enneus Heerma Bridge,  London South Bank
 Stockbridge Leisure Amsterdam, University K2 Building,
Centre, Liverpool (1988) Netherlands (2001) England (2010)
 British Pavilion Expo  National Space Centre,  Eco Hotel Concept,
'92, Seville, Spain (1992) Leicester (2001) North America (2011)
 Waterloo International  25 Gresham Street,  The St Botolph
railway station, London London (2003) Building, London,
(1993)  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars England (2011)
 British Airways Goodwood  Mobilizarte Mobile
Combined Centre of manufacturing plant Pavilion, Brazil (2012)
Operations ('The and Headquarters  The Cutty Sark
Compass Centre'), (2003) conservation project,
Heathrow Airport  Five Boats, Duisburg, London, England (2012)
(1993) Germany (2005)  Pulkovo Airport, Saint
 South West Media  Zurich Airport Petersburg, Russia
Group (Western Expansion (2004) (2014)
Morning News,  The Core, Eden Project
Plymouth Herald) (2005)
Headquarters and  Southern Cross railway
Printworks. Known as station, Melbourne,  Grimshaw was made a
"The Ship", Derriford, Australia (2005) Knight Bachelor in
Plymouth (1993)  Caixa Galicia Art 2002 New Year
 RAC Regional Gallery, A Coruña, Spain Honours for services to
Headquarters, Bristol (2006) Architecture.
(1994)
 He received an
Honorary Doctorate
from Heriot-Watt
University in 2004.
 He received the RIBA
Royal Gold Medal in
2019.
 LIFE
 IDEAS, INFLUENCES AND
PHILOSOPHIES
 WORKS
Born: November 04, 1963 |
Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China

Wang Shu is a Hangzhou-based

architect and dean at the China
Academy of Art, known for his
thoughtful resistance to what he
considers “professionalized,
soulless architecture.” His
honoring of local tradition,
environment, and craftsmanship
saw him become the first Chinese
citizen, and one of the youngest
people overall, to receive the
Pritzker Prize in 2012 for "an
architecture that is timeless,
deeply rooted in its context and
yet universal.”
LIFE
Architect and Professor Wang work is rooted in the context at the Centre Pompidou, Paris;
Shu was born in 1963 in of Chinese history and culture. the 2002 Shanghai Biennale at
Urumqi, a city in Xinjiang, the the Shanghai Art Museum; the
western most province of Wang Shu has often explained 2001 “TU MU-Young
China. He received his first in lectures and interviews that Architecture of China” exhibit
degree in architecture in 1985 “to me architecture is at AEDES Gallery, Berlin; and
and his Masters degree in spontaneous for the simple the 1999 Chinese Young
1988, both from the Nan reason that architecture is a Architects’ Experimental
Nanjing Institute of matter of everyday life. When I Works Exhibition, UIA
Technology. say that I build a ‘house’ Congress, Beijing.
instead of a ‘building’, I am
Wang Shu and his wife, Lu thinking of something that is In 2011, Wang Shu received the
Wenyu, founded Amateur closer to life, everyday life. Gold Medal of Architecture
Architecture Studio in 1997 in When I named my studio (grande médaille d’or) from
Hangzhou, China. The office ‘Amateur Architecture’, it was the l'Académie d'Architecture
name references the approach to emphasize the spontaneous of France. In 2010, Wang Shu
an amateur builder takes—one and experimental aspects of and Lu Wenyu were awarded
based on spontaneity, craft my work, as opposed to being the Schelling Architecture
skills and cultural traditions. ‘official and monumental’." Prize, which goes to
Wang Shu spent a number of individuals who have
years working on building Wang Shu is Professor and responsibly advanced
sites to learn traditional skills. Head of the Architecture architecture's development
The firm utilizes his School at China Academy of with significant designs,
knowledge of everyday Art, Hangzhou. In 2011, he realized buildings or with
techniques to adapt and became the first Chinese profound contributions to
transform materials for Kenzo Tange Visiting Professor architectural history and
contemporary projects. This at the Harvard Graduate theory. The Vertical Courtyard
unique combination of School of Design in Cambridge, Apartment, in Hangzhou was
traditional understanding, Massachusetts. nominated for the 2008,
experimental building tactics German-based International
and intensive research defines He has exhibited individually Highrise Award. In 2005, the
the basis for the studio’s and participated in several project “Five Scattered
architectural projects. major international Houses” in Ningbo received an
exhibitions including: the 2010 acknowledgement from the
The studio takes a critical view Venice Architecture Biennale Asia Pacific Holcim Awards for
of the architecture at which he received a special sustainable construction, and
profession’s part in the mention for the “Decay of a in 2003, the Wenzheng Library
demolition and destruction of Dome” installation – a project received the Architecture Art
large urban areas. At the 2006 whose light, mobile and Award of China.
Venice Architecture Biennale, utterly simple structure can
Amateur Architecture Studio be speedily constructed or Wang Shu/Amateur
expressed views of on-going returned to nothingness; the Architecture Studio is known
demolitions in “Tiled Garden,” 2009 “Architecture as a for the following built works:
an installation made from Resistance” solo exhibition at Library of Wenzheng College,
66,000 recycled tiles salvaged the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts Suzhou University, China
from demolition sites. Rather in Brussels; the 2007 Shenzhen (2000); Ningbo Contemporary
than looking toward the West & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale Art Museum, Ningbo, China,
for inspiration, as many of of Urbanism\Architecture; the (2005); Five Scattered Houses,
Shu’s contemporaries do, his 2003 “Alors, La Chine?” exhibit Ningbo, China (2005);
Xiangshan Campus, China Hangzhou, China (2007); Museum, Ningbo, China (2008);
Academy of Art (Phase I) Ceramic House, Jinhua, China and, Exhibition Hall of the
Hangzhou, China (2004); (2006); Vertical Courtyard Imperial Street of Southern
Xiangshan Campus, China Apartments, Hangzhou, China Song Dynasty, Hangzhou,
Academy of Art (Phase II) (2007); Ningbo History China (2009).

IDEAS, INFLUENCES AND PHILOSOPHIES

Wang creates modern "In an age where the goal is to He requires his freshman
buildings making use of offer a distinct, individualized architecture students to spend
traditional materials and style, Shu has shied away from a year working with their
applying older techniques. The such a prerogative. Ironically, hands, learning basic
Ningbo Museum is with his manner of seamlessly carpentry and bricklaying, and
constructed of bricks salvaged meshing the contemporary Wang also requires other
from buildings which had been with the cultural, innovation teachers in the department
demolished to facilitate new with tradition, Shu’s work has learn basic building skills.
developments. Wang is a keen come to define itself. The work Because he believes "Only
supporter of architectural is infused with fresh material people who understand the
heritage where globalization juxtapositions and an nature of materials can make
has stripped cities of their expressive quality grounded in art using the materials."
special attributes. traditional formal proportions
and scale."

REGIONALISM
HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE AND “A lost tradition means a lost “For myself being an artisan or
MODERN DESIGN. future.” a craftsman is an amateur, or
almost the same thing.”
His architectural approach in Through his practice, he
the design process is he create persists in trying to help - Ar. Wang Shu
something without rejecting people to realize what they are
the country’s history and losing when they destroy their
heritage. historic buildings in cities.

WORKS
constructed as a whole part, composed of debris collected
while the building starts to tilt from the surrounding area,
on the second floor, giving the where traditional Chinese
whole building a mountain towns and villages were
and also a boat shape. demolished to make way for
The Ningbo History Museum, new developments.
first floor of the museum is The three-storey museum’s
distinctive façade is largely
The walls of the Ningbo
History Museum feature a
wide range of recycled bricks
and tiles – some of which date
back over a thousand years.
Library of Wenzheng College is a library which its
purpose was to make people aware that they live
between mountains and water. Nearly half of the
library is underground. Backed by a mountain full
of bamboo in the north and facing a lake. The
three-storey building actually shows only two-
storey to the entrance side. The rectangle main
body is floating over the water, facing south, the
dominant direction of the winds in summer.
 The Vertical Courtyard
Apartments is a group of
buildings located at the
entrance of the city airport.
There are six nearly one
hundred meter high
buildings for 800 residents.
Each 2nd floor there is a
double high “courtyard” in
the sky, conceptually
reminding the folding of
bamboo mat. The elevation
of the tower looks as if it
was a vertical/horizontal
turn of a traditional town in
south China. Every resident
no matter on which height
will have the chance to enjoy
a courtyard of his own and
will have the illusion of
living on the 2nd floor.

The China Academy of Art

campus is located on the
outskirts of Hangzhou.
Completed in two phases the
new campus is built around
the 50 meter high knoll
Xiangshan, and is
surrounded by two streams
originating from a river to
the west of Xiangshan,
which converge the eastern
end of knoll.
“Ceramic House - The small house of one hundred square meters, - a
café -, I decided to make it a container. Whether it will hold wind or
water is completely determined by intuition. Where a design will
start is often accidental. For instance, in this case I can explain it by
the form of an ink stone from the Song Dynasty [960-1279]. The ink
stone is made for the function only. His surface is made of two
parts. One is comparatively plain and the other is a slope. The plain
part is for storing ink and the slope part is for dripping ink. I asked
myself what I would see standing on the surface of the ink stone
and what from the bottom. As it is a pottery ink stone, it memorized
me of my friend Zhou Wu, who makes earthenware. He made a piece
of porcelain with the size of 40x80. There is also a slope on the
bottom of the piece. The winding part is to prevent the glaze from
dripping when it is in the kiln. He made thousands of such pieces,
which shocked me. The ink stone and Zhou Wu’s porcelain became
the inspiration for this small house. The shape of the café-house is
similar to the ink stone—a one-storey house, the front faces the
south and the back faces the north. Drinking coffee inside is just
like sitting at the bottom of the ink stone. The wind is coming from
the southeast and crawls up along the slope to the northwest.
Jinhua is a city with a lot of rain. The rain drips from the northwest
to the southeast. Several trees are planted on the top of the ink
stone slope. Sitting indoors, the view moves upward along the slope
and then disappears in infinity. The west and east walls are full of
little holes. On one hand it is for the wind and light, and emphasizes
the direction of the house. By the west door, there is a stair leading
to the roof. The view to the river is great from there. Colorful pieces
of porcelain made by Zhou Wu are pasted on the inner and outer
walls of the house. In this way, the house is colored. The pieces are
arranged irregularly, however they present all colors in Chinese
ceramic. There are two doors for the house; one is on the east and
the other on the west. I planned the path just through the building.
On the north of the house lays a tree-meter high earth bank
running from east to west. The house is anchored on the earth
bank. At the same time the earth bank prevents the hustles and
bustles from the road on the north. The shallow pool in the south
catches the inverted reflection of the house in the water.”
- Ar. Wang Shu
 person to win. The jury,
Major works by Wang Shu which included
Completed: Pritzker laureate Zaha
 Youth Center (1990), Hadid and the US
Haining  Bus Stop in Krumbach, Supreme Court justice
 Library of Wenzheng Austria (2014) Stephen Breyer,
College at Soochow Under construction or in highlighted Wang's
University (1999–2000), design phase: "unique ability to evoke
Suzhou the past, without
 Ningbo Museum of Art  Heyun Culture and making direct
(2001–05) Leisure Centers (2009), references to history"
 Xiangshan Campus, Kunming and called his work
China Academy of Art,  City Cultural Center "timeless, deeply
Phases I & II (2002–07), (2010), Jinhua rooted in its context
Hangzhou  Shi Li Hong Zhuang and yet universal." The
 Vertical Courtyard Traditional Dowry chairman of the Hyatt
Apartments (2002–07), Museum (2010), Foundation said
Hangzhou Ninghai Wang's win
 Sanhe House (2003),  Contemporary Art represented "a
Nanjing Museum on the Dock significant step in
 Teaching Building of (2010), Zhoushan acknowledging the role
the Music and Dance  Buddhist Institute that China will play in
Department (2003–05), Library (2011), the development of
Dongguan Hangzhou architectural ideals"
 Ceramic House (2003– going forward. Zhu Tao,
06), Jinhua a Chinese architectural
critic and historian,
 Five Scattered Houses
speculated that the
(2003–06), Ningbo  In 2010, Wang and his win could signify a
 Ningbo Museum wife Lu Wenyu turning point in
(2003–08) together won the Chinese architectural
 Tiled garden, Venice German Schelling history saying the
Biennale of Architecture Prize, and prize "sends a message
Architecture (2006), in 2011 he received the that architecture is a
Italy Gold Medal from the cultural enterprise ...
 Old Town Conservation French Academy of that architects are
of Zhongshan Street Architecture. creators of culture."
(2007–09), Hangzhou  In 2012, Wang won the  Alejandro Aravena, a
 Exhibition Hall of the Pritzker Architecture member of the Pritzker
Imperial Street of Prize. In so doing, he Prize jury, stated
Southern Song Dynasty became the first "Wang Shu’s
(2009), Hangzhou Chinese citizen (second outstanding
 Ningbo Tengtou winner of Chinese architecture may be
Pavilion, Shanghai descent after I. M. Pei) the consequence of
Expo (2010) to win this prize, and being able to combine
the fourth youngest talent and intelligence.
 This combination monument is not the operations talk of
allows him to produce case. The intensity of great maturity."
masterpieces when a his work may be a
monument is needed, consequence of his
but also very careful relative youth, but the
and contained precision and
architecture when a appropriateness of his

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