Photo credit: The Pritzker Architecture PrizeThe Pritzker Architecture Prize has announced Liu Jiakun, of Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China, as the 2025 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, an award that is regarded internationally as architectures highest honour. Liu is the 54th Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the founder of Jiakun Architecture, established in 1999.Liu offers architecture that celebrates the lives of ordinary citizens and uses architecture to foster community and inspire compassion. Throughout his works, he demonstrates a deep respect for culture, history and nature, and familiarity through modern interpretations of classic Chinese architecture.Born in 1956 in Chengdu, Peoples Republic of China, Liu spent a majority of his childhood in the corridors of Chengdu Second Peoples Hospital, founded as Gospel Hospital in 1892, where his mother was an internist. According to the Pritzker Architecture Prize, while almost all of his immediate family members were physicians, he displayed an interest for creative arts, and a teacher later introduced architecture as a profession.Hu Huishan Memorial by Liu Jiakun. Image Jiakun ArchitectsIn 1978, Liu was accepted to attend the Institute of Architecture and Engineering in Chongqing (renamed Chongqing University). 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 what was a transformative time for the nation.Liu has been featured in international exhibitions including Experimental Architecture by Young Chinese Architects The 20th UIA World Congress of Architects (1999, Beijing, China); TU MU Young Architecture From China (2001, Berlin, Germany); Urban Creation, Shanghai Biennale (2002, Shanghai, China); the 1st, 3rd and 7th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (2005, 2009 and 2017, Shenzhen, China); the 11th and 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2008 and 2016, Venice, Italy); the 56th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2015, Venice, Italy); Now and Here Chengdu | Liu Jiakun: Selected Works (2017, Berlin, Germany); and Super Fusion Chengdu Biennale (2021, Chengdu, China).Shuijingfang Museum by Liu Jiakun. Photo credit: Arch-ExistHe is currently a visiting professor at the School of Architecture Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing, China), and has previously lectured at Cit de larchitecture et du patrimoine (Paris, France), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America), Royal Academy of Arts (London, United Kingdom), and leading institutions in China.His awards include the Far Eastern Architectural Design, Outstanding Award (2007 and 2017); ASC Grand Architectural Creation Award (2009); Architectural Record China Awards (2010); WA Awards for Chinese Architecture (2016); Building with Nature, Architecture China Award (2020); Sanlian LifeweekCity for Humanity Awards for Public Contribution (2020); and UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, New Design in the Heritage Contexts (2021).ImageArchitecture should reveal somethingit should abstract, distill and make visible the inherent qualities of local people. It has the power to shape human behavior and create atmospheres, offering a sense of serenity and poetry, evoking compassion and mercy, and cultivating a sense of shared community, said Liu.Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick by Liu Jiakun. Photo credit: The Hyatt Foundation/The Pritzker Architecture Prize/Jiakun ArchitectsHis career spans over forty years, with more than thirty projects ranging from academic and cultural institutions to civic spaces, commercial buildings and urban planning throughout China. Significant works 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).Through an outstanding body of work of deep coherence and constant quality, Liu Jiakun imagines and constructs new worlds, free from any aesthetic or stylistic constraint. Instead of a style, he has developed a strategy that never relies on a recurring method but rather on evaluating the specific characteristics and requirements of each project differently. That is to say, Liu Jiakun takes present realities and handles them to the point of offering sometimes a whole new scenario of daily life. Beyond knowledge and techniques, common sense and wisdom are the most powerful tools he adds to the designers toolbox, said the 2025 Jury Citation, in part.Calligraphy: H.Masud TajLiu will be honoured at a celebration in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates this spring, and globally with a virtual ceremony video this fall.The 2025 Laureate Lecture and Panel Discussion will be held in May and open to the public in-person and online.The post Liu Jiakun Announced Recipient of 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize appeared first on Canadian Architect.