Chinese architect Liu Jiakun has been awarded the 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Awards
On March 4, 2025, Chinese architect Liu Jiakun was named the '2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate,' the highest honor in the field of architecture. He will be celebrated in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May 2025.
- Liu Jiakun became the 54th winner of the Pritzker Prize and the second Chinese architect to receive this honor, following Wang Shu in 2012. He was awarded for his respect for culture, history, and nature, as well as his ability to imagine and build new worlds without being restricted by any specific style or aesthetic.
- The Pritzker Architecture Prize, created in 1979 by businessman Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy through their Hyatt Foundation in Chicago, USA, is an international prize awarded annually to a living architect whose work demonstrates continuous excellence in architecture.
- The Pritzker Prize, often referred to as "architecture's Nobel" and "the profession's highest honor," includes a USD 100,000 grant and a bronze medallion. In 2024, the prize was awarded to Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto. Notably, Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas (BV) Doshi became the first Indian to win the Pritzker Prize in 2018 for his outstanding lifelong contribution to architecture.
Main Point :- (i) In 1999, Liu Jiakun founded 'Jiakun Architects' in Chengdu, China. Over the past four decades, he has completed over 30 projects across China, including work in education, culture, public spaces, commerce, and urban planning.
(ii) His designs focus on a human-centered approach, sensitivity to context, and innovation in materials. His work often blends traditional Chinese elements with local materials, and his Rebirth Brick Project (inspired by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake) emphasizes sustainability.
(iii) Some notable projects by Liu Jiakun include the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum (2002), Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Sculpture Department (2002), West Village (2015), Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick (2016), and the Tianbao Cave District Renovation (2020).
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