There’s much to be said about what an architecture award functionally does: The AIA Gold Medal recognizes cumulative impact; magazine awards provide opportunities for emerging practices by showcasing design talent or lesser-known projects. But the Pritzker Prize is a little different, better understood as a "Nobel Prize" for architecture that honors an expression of design values over one’s career. Recent awardees, for example, include Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal (2021), recognized for their devotion to adaptive reuse, and Frances Kéré (2022), whose focus on design and social justice has brought his practice significant acclaim.
This year, the 2025 Pritzker Prize has been awarded to Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, 69, founder of Jiakun Architects. He’s known for his process—understanding specific nuances of a particular site, including its social and material histories—and portfolio, which are defined by an ethos, not any particular style.
For many Americans, Jiakun’s work has flown under the radar. The Guardian’s Olly Wainwright notes that he is only the second Chinese architect to have won the prize in its 46-year history, working exclusively in China on cultural and academic institutions, as well as civic spaces, many of which inject dense, urban conditions with natural features. But what makes his work so unique is how each project cracks open the site’s unique heritage and challenges, producing buildings that, according to the award announcement, "philosophically [look] beyond the surface to reveal that history, materials and nature are symbiotic."
Perhaps this idea is most evident in his "Rebirth Brick Project" that began after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that destroyed nearly four-fifths of all buildings in the affected area. The research premise was simple: to reuse rubble as an aggregate mixed with cement and straw fibers in rebuilding after the disaster; since then, these bricks have been used throughout his work including the Shuijingfang Museum, which celebrates the world’s oldest..Read More
