Lu Wenyu co-founded Amateur Architecture Studio in Hangzhou, China with Wang Shu in 1997. The studio is known for championing craft-based and traditional Chinese building practices, often using natural and recycled materials. The practice has completed numerous projects, including Ningbo History Museum (2008), the Xiangshan Campus of China Academy of Art (2002–07) in Hangzhou, and the Ningbo Contemporary Art Museum (2001–05). In 2003, the duo co-founded the architecture department at the China Academy of Art, where Lu now serves as director of the Experimental Centre for Sustainable Building. 

Wenyu has been visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT, and University College London. She was awarded the Schelling Architecture Prize in Germany and an honorary award from the Venice Biennale in 2010. In 2012, Wang Shu was awarded the Pritzker Prize for the work he and Wenyu completed with Amateur Architecture Studio.