Chinese architect Liu Jiakun honoured with 2025 Pritzker Prize for human-centered design
The 69-year-old architect and founder of Jiakun Architects 'upholds the transcendent power of the built environment through the harmonising of cultural, historical, emotional and social dimensions, using architecture to forge community, inspire compassion and elevate the human spirit,' Pritzker organisers said in a statement.
He is only the second Chinese citizen to receive the prize, following Wang Shu in 2012, a remarkable achievement considering private architectural practice was banned in China until the 1990s.
Liu, based in China's southwestern Sichuan region, has said that the purpose of his architecture 'is to create a beautiful, just and dignified living environment,' and that he tries to balance commercial needs with the human needs of the public.
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Organisers cited his West Village in Chengdu, a 2015 five-story project that spans a block. It includes a perimetre of pathways for cyclists and pedestrians around 'its own vibrant city of cultural, athletic, recreational, office and business activities within, while allowing the public to view through to the surrounding natural and built environments.'
They also noted the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Department of Sculpture in Chongqing, which they said displays an alternate solution to maximising space, 'with upper levels protruding outward to extend the square footage of a narrow footprint.'
In a recent interview in his office in Chengdu, Liu said he was not one of those architects who likes to have a strongly recognisable visual style. Rather, he said, he pays more attention to method and strategy.
'Many architects use a strong personal style and form to gain a foothold in the world,' Liu told the AP, speaking in Mandarin. 'No matter where it is, people can tell immediately that it is his or her work with a very strong symbolism. But I am not such a kind of architect.'
'I don't want to have a very clear or obvious style that can be recognised as mine just at a glance,' he said. 'I take a more methodological and strategic approach. I hope that when I go to a specific place, I can use my methodology and strategy to adapt to local conditions. I like to fully understand the place, and then look for resources, problems … and then distill and refine, and finally turn (this) into my work."
Among his other projects are a mysterious clock museum in Chengdu, where a grand circular courtyard evokes the timeless elegance of a sundial, and a striking brick museum in Suzhou. More recently, he has sparked new life into a historic temple district in Lishui and transformed a dramatic cliffside cave complex in Luzhou.
Liu also said he tries to balance his country's artistic and architectural heritage with the realities of modern technology. 'I think China's traditional architecture is of course brilliant and very classic,' he said, 'but it is a product of its time.'
He said he hopes to deeply understand 'the thematic part of tradition that can survive,' and then express it with contemporary technology and language. In that way, he said, 'tradition can be used as a core … but the presentation of your work is contemporary.'
Asked if he thought the honour would impact his life, Liu replied: 'I have thought about it. But I want to maintain normalcy … I don't want to become nervous about everything. Of course, it has its advantages. I will definitely not need to promote myself too much. But will it also make me better at work? Not necessarily. Excessive expectations may become a pressure.'
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Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
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Hamilton County wants your invasive trees. In exchange, they'll give you something better
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Buzz Feed
a day ago
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15 Secrets People Will Take To Their Grave
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Inside were letters and a few faded photos of her with a man who wasn't my grandfather, along with a birth certificate for a baby boy I had never heard of. The dates showed he was born just a year before my own father. My grandmother passed away a few months later. On her deathbed, she was in and out of lucidity, but at one point she grabbed my hand, looked me dead in the eye, and said, 'Don't let him ruin them.' I knew exactly what she meant." "I did some digging online. I found him, her other son. He had a family, a good career, and seemed happy. He had his own life, completely separate and unaware of ours. My father has always idolized my grandmother, viewing her as a saint. My grandfather, who passed years earlier, was a good but difficult man, and my dad's relationship with him was strained. The image of his mother was the one constant, perfect thing in his life. I took the metal box out to a bonfire one night and burned everything. 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They lived a couple of miles from us in the country, but their son and I rode the same bus. My dog liked to stand by the road when I got home to wait for my brother and me. He was a pit bull/border collie and exceptionally sweet. Even though they were miles away, they didn't like that he was part pit bull. He was in our fenced yard when my family went to the store and gone when we came home." "He limped home three days later, and it was clear he had been run over by an ATV because the tracks were clear on his little flank. His leg was broken and twisted, and he was in so much pain. We didn't have the money to get him fixed up, so he had to be put to sleep. Local cops said there was nothing we could do and that the family (who were the only ones in the area who had an ATV) claimed they were terrified of our 'vicious' dog. The son also smirked at us on the bus and pantomimed riding over something and made a dog yelping noise. We buried him in our yard, and my mom let me plant a lilac over his grave. A few months later, those assholes got a brand new truck, and I decided to get some justice for Rex. They didn't have any cameras, so one night I walked through the fields to their shitty little hobby farm with a 5-pound bag of sugar and poured it into the tank of their new truck and into the ATV. We did get a visit from the cops two days later, asking if we knew anything about some property destruction that had happened the other night. My mom told them no, that we had all been home. Pretty sure she knew what I did because the next time we went to the store, she asked me to go get another bag of sugar to replace the one I used, and she grinned at me. 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"One time in high school, I told my parents I was staying after class to study with friends, but I actually hopped on a Greyhound bus to Vegas with less than $50 in my pocket. My only plan was to sneak into a Cirque du Soleil show because I was obsessed with acrobatics back then. I made it in by following a group of VIPs through the wrong door — no one checked me. I watched the entire show from the sound booth like I belonged there. Afterward, one of the tech guys asked me to help carry some cables (I guess he thought I was an intern), so I ended up backstage." "Long story short: I accidentally ate dinner with the cast, got photos in costume storage, and even rode in their shuttle back to the hotel. I panicked at 2 a.m. when I realized I had no way home, but some of the performers thought I actually was a new hire and offered me a ride halfway back toward my city. I finally caught another bus home, stumbled into first-period math the next morning, and no one ever found out. 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Newsweek
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