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The Wall Street Journal 3/3/2012
Will Pritzker Be Pivotal for China?
China has no shortage of modern architectural icons, from the Guangzhou Opera House to Beijing’s National Stadium. But most of them have been spearheaded by foreign “starchitects” enabled by government funding—take Iraq’s Zaha Hadid, Switzerland’s Herzog & De Meuron and the Netherlands’ Rem Koolhaas, to name a few.
Now, Chinese architecture may have reached a turning point, with the announcement on Monday of the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Award winner: architect Wang Shu, the first China national to receive the prestigious award. The official awards ceremony will take place May 25, when it will be held for the first time in Beijing—a location decided in October, long before the winner was known.
Five Scattered Houses in Ningbo, China, by architect Wang Shu.
