Words Gabrielle de la Cruz and The Pritzker Architecture Prize
Images and Information Pritzker Architecture Prize and Liu Jiakun
“In a global context where architecture is struggling to find adequate responses to fast evolving social and environmental challenges, Liu Jiakun has provided convincing answers that also celebrate the everyday lives of people as well as their communal and spiritual identities,” opens the 2025 Pritzker Prize jury citation, announcing Chinese architect and Jiakun Architects founder Liu Jiakun as this year’s recipient.
Born to an internist mother in 1956, Jiakun spent his childhood days in Chengdu Second People’s Hospital, an experience that he refers to as what cultivated his “lifelong inherent religious tolerance.” He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Architecture in 1982 and was amongst the first generation of alumni tasked with rebuilding China during a transformative time for the nation.
Above: The Renovation of Tianbao Cave District of Erlang Town, photo courtesy of Arch-Exist. Below: West Village, photo courtesy of Qian Shen Photography
He then worked for the Chengdu Architectural Design and Research Institute, volunteering to temporarily relocate to Nagqu, Tibet in 1984 to 1986. Jiakun says his major strength of the time seemed to be his fear of nothing, and, in addition, his painting and writing skills. During those years and the several that followed, he was an architect by day and an author by night.
“Writing novels and practicing architecture are distinct forms of art, and I didn’t deliberately seek to combine the two. However, perhaps due to my dual background, there is an inherent connection between them in my work—such as the narrative quality and pursuit of poetry in my designs.”
His built work, consisting of over 30 public buildings in China, was regarded by the 2025 Pritzker jury as honest architecture that “presents the sincerity of textural materials and processes, displaying imperfections that endure, rather than degrade, through time.” Prominent buildings include Museum of Clocks, Jianchuan Museum Cluster (Chengdu, China, 2007); Design Department on new campus, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (Chongqing, China 2006), Lodging Center of China International Practice Exhibition of Architecture (Nanjing, China, 2012), Chengdu High-Tech Zone Tianfu Software Park Communication Center (Chengdu, China, 2010), and Songyang Culture Neighborhood (Lishui, China, 2020).
Left: Museum of Clocks, Jianchuan Museum Cluster, photo courtesy of Arch-Exist. Right: Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick, photo courtesy of Jiakun Architects
On top of his architectural portfolio, Jiakun also holds a collection of written works. These include The Conception of Brightmoon (Times Literature and Art Publishing House, 2014), exploring the conflict between utopias and human life, Narrative Discourse and Low-Tech Strategy (China Architecture & Building Press, 1997), Now and Here (China Architecture & Building Press, 2002) and I Built in West China? (Today Editorial Department, 2009).
Today, Jiakun is a visiting professor at the School of Architecture Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and continues to practice and reside in Chengdu. He will be honored at a celebration in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and globally with a virtual ceremony video. The 2025 Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion will be held in-person and online and will be open to the public in May. •
