Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation Thomas J. Pritzker has presented the prestigious 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize to Wang Shu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Wang Shu is the first architect from the People’s Republic of China to receive the prize. The official ceremony, which was held on 25 May, was hosted in China for the first time since the prize was founded in 1979.

In accepting the Pritzker Prize, Wang Shu said he had been pursuing his dream on a “lonely course.” “Before this, I had never published any architectural design collection or designed any buildings outside of China. I always see myself as an amateur architect, so it is absolutely a huge pleasant surprise to receive this honor,” he said.

“As a young architect, I have to say that I owe this award to the age we now live in. It is in this golden age that China has achieved unprecedented prosperity and openness, giving me so many opportunities for making difficult architectural experiments in such a short span of time. Here, I wish to thank my partner Lu Wenyu and all my friends who have helped me before.”

Wang Shu explained that architecture should not just be about designing buildings, but a “world of diversity and difference and a path that leads us back to the nature.” 

In presenting the award, Pritzker said that hosting the ceremony at the Great Hall of the People was significant not just to China, but also to the world. “I first visited China in 1976, so I have had the great privilege of witnessing its evolution over the last three decades. Like this hall, China’s evolution has been about its people and that is what enlightened architecture is also about.” 

The jury consists of eight people, including its chairman, Lord Palumbo of the United Kingdom, and Australian architect Glenn Murcutt. The executive director is Martha Thorne, the associate dean for external affairs at the IE School of Architecture in Madrid, Spain.