The 2025 Pritzker Prize, dubbed the Nobel for architecture, has been awarded to China’s Chengdu-based Liu Jiakun, who was recognised for designs that celebrate “everyday lives”.
“The task of architects is to provide a better living environment for human beings”
Born in 1956, Liu has worked on more than 30 projects in China, ranging from academic and cultural institutions to civic spaces and commercial buildings. He prioritises the use of local materials and traditional building techniques.
In an interview in his office in Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan region, the architect said he had a simple definition of his profession: “To simplify, the task of architects is to provide a better living environment for human beings.”
Liu is known for creating public areas in highly populated cities where there is little public space, “forging a positive relationship between density and open space”, the Pritzker statement said.
Liu said “Architecture should reveal something – it should abstract, distil and make visible the inherent qualities of local people.” He evokes his craft’s capacity to create “a sense of shared community”, the judges said.
Source: SCMP, Mar 5, 2025.
China Environment News 