Wang Shu, Wary of the New

At a time when China was bursting with an urge to cover buildings in shimmering silver and gray, Wang Shu, the first Chinese winner of the Pritzker Prize, was an architect that felt that changing tastes didn't have to mean changing one's sense of history.

In the 1990s, China went all-in for large-scale construction. Wang and his wife Lu Wenyu, also an architect, instead decided to lead a reclusive life in Hangzhou, in China's Zhejiang Province, famous for its landscape and history as a cultural center. The couple taught at the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts and built a garden in their 50-square-meter home.