Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, founder of Jiakun Architecture, has been awarded the 2025Pritzker Prize.Born in Chengdu, Liu has built a career spanning over four decades, developing projects that blend modernity with traditional Chinese architectural elements. Rooted in cultural, historical, and social considerations, the architect's work often seeks to create spaces that serve and uplift communities.West Village, photo courtesy of Arch-ExistLius approach to urbanism challenges conventional development models, introducing public spaces within dense city environments and emphasizing the human experience in architecture. One of Liu's most notable projects,West Village(Chengdu, 2015), exemplifies such an approach to urban density, with a five-story mixed-use development that spans an entire city block, integrating cultural, commercial, and recreational spaces within a network of sloping pathways for cyclists and pedestrians. The design contrasts with the surrounding high-rise lan...