{"id":808786,"date":"2026-10-20T16:48:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808786\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T16:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T16:48:18","slug":"architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/808786\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"js-image-size__link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad73e5a8008f4018ba548bd-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" rel=\"attachment nofollow noopener\" style=\"width: 100%;\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - Image 1 of 13\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad73e5a8008f4018ba548bd\" fetchpriority=\"high\" height=\"480\" itemprop=\"image\" loading=\"eager\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad73e5a8008f4018ba548bd-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" style=\"min-height: var(--featured-height, auto); aspect-ratio: auto 640 \/ 480\" width=\"640\"\/><\/a>\u00a9 Andrea Avezz\u00f9<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-meta__publication-date\">Published on October 20, 2026<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">&#8220;Architecture must return to its essence.&#8221; With this statement, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/wang-shu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Wang Shu<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/lu-wenyu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lu Wenyu<\/a> establish the central premise of their curatorial vision for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/venice-architecture-biennale-2027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">20th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia<\/a>, taking place from May 8 to November 21, 2027, across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and throughout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/venice\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Venice<\/a>. Titled &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1041646\/do-architecture-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-announce-theme-and-title-for-2027-venice-architecture-biennale?ad_campaign=special-tag\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Do Architecture \u2013 For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality<\/a>&#8220;, the exhibition calls for a return to the physical act of making architecture, at a time when, according to the curators, the discipline has become increasingly disconnected from lived reality through excessive abstraction, commercialization, and digitalization.<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Rather than focusing on what architecture might become, the curators propose a renewed engagement with the present, questioning what it means to practice architecture today through materials, construction, local knowledge, and direct experience. This approach builds on ideas that have long informed the work of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/amateur-architecture-studio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Amateur Architecture Studio<\/a>, founded by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/wang-shu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wang Shu<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/lu-wenyu\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lu Wenyu<\/a> in 1997, particularly their exploration of traditional building techniques, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/tag\/material-reuse\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">material reuse<\/a>, and the relationship between architecture and place.The exhibition also places the question of coexistence at its center, exploring how architecture can bring together seemingly opposing conditions, from technology and craftsmanship to urban and rural ways of building, while remaining grounded in the specific realities of each place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"thumbs afd-desktop-e\"><a class=\"thumbs__link\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad7355ac720ac0188963158\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad7355ac720ac0188963158-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" rel=\"attachment nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - Image 2 of 13\" class=\"thumbs__img b-lazy\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad7355ac720ac0188963158\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792514894_749_architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" height=\"125\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad7355ac720ac0188963158-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" title=\"Ningbo Historic Museum. Image \u00a9 Lv Hengzhong\" width=\"125\"\/><\/a><a class=\"thumbs__link\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad73554c720ac0188963157\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad73554c720ac0188963157-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" rel=\"attachment nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - Image 3 of 13\" class=\"thumbs__img b-lazy\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad73554c720ac0188963157\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792514895_937_architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" height=\"125\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad73554c720ac0188963157-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" title=\"Xi'an Opera House and Concert Hall. Image \u00a9 Laksana Studio\" width=\"125\"\/><\/a><a class=\"thumbs__link\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad74bd0c720ac0188963247\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad74bd0c720ac0188963247-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-image\" rel=\"attachment nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - Image 4 of 13\" class=\"thumbs__img b-lazy\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad74bd0c720ac0188963247\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792514895_246_architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" height=\"125\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad74bd0c720ac0188963247-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-image\" title=\"Padiglione Centrale Giardini. Image \u00a9 Francesco Galli. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia\" width=\"125\"\/><\/a><a class=\"thumbs__link\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad74bb3c720ac0188963246\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad74bb3c720ac0188963246-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-image\" rel=\"attachment nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - Image 5 of 13\" class=\"thumbs__img b-lazy\" data-nr-picture-id=\"6ad74bb3c720ac0188963246\" data-pin-nopin=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792514896_114_architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" height=\"125\" longdesc=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad74bb3c720ac0188963246-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-image\" title=\"Corderie 2 - Giulio Squillacciotti. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia\" width=\"125\"\/><\/a><a class=\"thumbs__link afd-desktop-e\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archdaily.com\/1187187\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale\/6ad73e5a8008f4018ba548bd-architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-biennale-photo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cArchitecture Must Return to Its Essence\u201d: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu on the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale - More Images\" class=\"thumbs__img b-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/architecture-must-return-to-its-essence-wang-shu-and-lu-wenyu-on-the-2027-venice-architecture-bienna.jpeg\" itemprop=\"image\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAUEBAAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=\"\/>+ 8<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792514898_436_loader-blue.gif\" alt=\"Content Loader\" style=\"width: 40px; margin: 24px;\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a9 Andrea Avezz\u00f9 Published on October 20, 2026 &#8220;Architecture must return to its essence.&#8221; With this statement, Wang&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[265439,204617,115936,28026,6510,733,6225,6485,6486,891,207513,5343,94572,1120,28756,96,8798,148991,479,116314,265440,26623,56,54,55,10989,145666,10991,78557],"class_list":["post-808786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-ad-qa","tag-amateur-architecture","tag-amateur-architecture-studio","tag-architectural-representation","tag-architecture","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-china","tag-construction-technology","tag-culture","tag-curatorship","tag-design","tag-digitalization","tag-entertainment","tag-exhibition","tag-highlight","tag-italy","tag-lu-wenyu","tag-material-reuse","tag-profession","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-venice","tag-venice-architecture-biennale-2027","tag-venice-biennale","tag-wang-shu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}