The Renovation of Tianbao Cave District of Erlang Town.
Photo: Courtesy of Arch-Exist
Liu Jiakun Awarded 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize
The 54th laureate is being recognized for his work in public and civic spaces that "imagines and constructs new worlds"
Liu Jiakun. Photo: Courtesy of The Hyatt Foundation/The Pritzker Architecture Prize
China’s Liu Jiakun has been named the 2025 recipient of the heralded Pritzker Architecture Prize for his work that continuously celebrates “the lives of ordinary citizens” while also elevating the human spirit.
“Through an outstanding body of work of deep coherence and constant quality, Liu Jiakun imagines and constructs new worlds, free from any aesthetic or stylistic constraint,” a Pritzker statement said. “Instead of a style, he has developed a strategy that never relies on a recurring method but rather on evaluating the specific characteristics and requirements of each project differently. That is to say, Liu Jiakun takes present realities and handles them to the point of offering sometimes a whole new scenario of daily life. Beyond knowledge and techniques, common sense and wisdom are the most powerful tools he adds to the designer’s toolbox.”
West Village. Photo: Courtesy of Chen Chen
For the last four decades, Liu, 68, has transformed public and civic spaces with over 30 projects including the Museum of Clocks, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Songyang Culture Neighborhood, the Lodging Center of China International Practice Exhibition of Architecture, and more.
He was born in Chengdu, China, and resides and works in his native city, where the influence of classic Chinese architecture radiates through his creations.
Novartis (Shanghai) Block - C6. Photo: Courtesy of Arch-Exist
“Architecture should reveal something—it should abstract, distill and make visible the inherent qualities of local people,” Liu said in a statement. “It has the power to shape human behavior and create atmospheres, offering a sense of serenity and poetry, evoking compassion and mercy, and cultivating a sense of shared community.”
As the 54th laureate of the prize, Liu joins notable honorees including Riken Yamamoto, Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Diébédo Francis Kéré, and more. He will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi and at the 2025 Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion in May.
Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum. Photo: Courtesy of Bi Kejian
Cover: The Renovation of Tianbao Cave District of Erlang Town.
Photo: Courtesy of Arch-Exist
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