Liu Jiakun: Pritzker Prize 2025
17 March 2025This year the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in the world of architecture, went to Liu Jiakun. His approach combines respect for culture, a deep understanding of materials and social responsibility. Liu's architecture is not just form but also living memory, reflecting history, climate and people's everyday lives.
Architecture based on local context.
Liu Jiakun holds to the idea that “architecture is a process, not a final result.” His works demonstrate the adaptive reuse of materials, earthquake-resistant structures and a subtle engagement with China's urban and rural areas. After the devastating Wenchuan earthquake (2008), he launched the “Rebirth Bricks” project, in which construction debris was turned into new materials — a gesture of architectural resilience and memory.
Language: a dialogue between tradition and modernity.
Liu Jiakun creates projects based on the principles of asymmetry, unevenness and handwork, which brings his approach close to the Chinese philosophy of “wabi-sabi.” His buildings use traditional bricks, timber and concrete, and the structures themselves do not intrude on their surroundings but blend into them organically.
Notable projects:
Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum (2002, Chengdu)
A fusion of a traditional Chinese garden and a brutalist gallery that houses Buddhist relics.
Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Department of Sculpture (2004, Chongqing)
A rust-red building with upper floors tilted outward for natural light.
West Village (2015, Chengdu)
An urban stadium that brings together public areas, pedestrian routes and bike paths, rethinking the concept of the shopping mall.
Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick (2016, Suzhou)
A contemporary interpretation of traditional brick, connecting past and present through material.
Renovation of Tianbao Cave District (2021, Luzhou)
A restoration of rock caves used for storing alcohol, integrating traditional Chinese pavilions.
Why Liu Jiakun?
The Pritzker Prize jury noted his “respect for history, culture and nature” and his ability to create spaces that are at once contemporary and eternal. There is no excessive grandiosity in his architecture: these are poetic, adaptive, deeply rooted projects that do not shout but speak in a whisper.
Liu Jiakun's award in 2025 confirms a new direction in architecture — humanist, oriented toward cultural sustainability and local identity.
ph: Arch-Exist, Bi Kejian, Chengdu Beisen Culture, Li Ziqiang, Chin Hyosook
