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La Biennale di Venezia has announced the curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, scheduled to take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu will lead one of the most anticipated events on the international cultural scene. Their appointment was approved by the Board of Directors upon the proposal of President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco.
Architects, academics, and professional partners, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu founded Amateur Architecture Studio in 1997, gaining worldwide recognition for an approach that weaves together memory, sustainability, and innovation. Their work is based on the reuse of materials, the enhancement of anonymous structures, and the traces of everyday life, offering a concrete alternative to aggressive urbanization processes.
In 2003, they established the Department of Architecture at the China Academy of Art, and in 2007 the School of Architecture: Wang Shu served as its first dean, while Lu Wenyu directed the Center for Sustainable Construction. They have taken part in several editions of the Venice Architecture Biennale, receiving a Special Mention in 2010 for the project Decay of a Dome.
Among their most celebrated works are the Ningbo History Museum, the Xiangshan Campus, the redevelopment of the village of Wencun, and numerous cultural complexes across China. Their works have been exhibited at MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2012, Wang Shu received the Pritzker Prize, the highest international recognition in the field of architecture.
Food is emerging as a powerful lever for resilient urban design. When we talk about climate adaptation, social equity or public health, we rarely start from food systems – yet they shape emissions, everyday routines, community ties and even how vulnerable a city is to crisis.
Copenhagen shows what happens when food becomes core urban policy, not an afterthought. With nearly all public meals now organic and a clear strategy to cut the carbon footprint of municipal food, the city treats kitchens, canteens and school meals as critical infrastructure, not just service logistics. Public meals are designed to educate, connect and dignify, while projects like Shifting Urban Diets use urban design tools – seating, routes, visibility, micro-public spaces – to “nudge” people toward healthier, more sustainable choices.
Thinking food-first pushes urban designers to see streets, squares and services as parts of a living foodscape – a key frontier for adaptive, low-carbon and socially inclusive cities (Gehl, 2010).