PRITZKER FOR LIU JIAKUN, BALANCE BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY

05/03/2025

The prestigious Pritzker Prize 2025, considered the Nobel of architecture, has been awarded to Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, a professional whose work stands out for its deep respect for tradition, sustainability, and connection with the community.

From Singular Studio, we celebrate this recognition to an architect who has managed to reinterpret Chinese architecture with a contemporary sensitivity, by bringing his projects into dialogue with history and the environment. His approach moves away from spectacle to focus on functional, efficient, and culturally rooted solutions.

Jiakun has developed a work in which craftsmanship and local materials play a fundamental role, creating spaces that reflect both the identity of each place and the real needs of its inhabitants. Some of his most important projects include, among many others, the Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum, a symbol of resilience; the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Museum (2002, Chengdu, China), an exercise in minimalism and harmony with the landscape; and the West Village (2015, China), a neighborhood-village that combines public infrastructure, housing, and landscape to demonstrate that density and public space are not mutually exclusive.

Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum

 The West Village neighborhood-village

Unlike other figures in contemporary architecture, Liu Jiakun does not seek to impose a personalist vision or respond to ephemeral trends, but focuses on the essence of living. His work is based on a deep analysis of the social and economic conditions of each environment, by aiming for accessibility and integration with the pre-existing urban fabric. His architecture is an act of balance between modernity and memory, between innovation and continuity.

Apart from his impact on architectural practice, Jiakun has had a remarkable influence on architectural education and theory, promoting a vision in which architecture should respond to human needs rather than decontextualised aesthetic ambitions. His studio, Jiakun Architects, has been a reference in the search for an architectural language that rescues the vernacular without renouncing contemporaneity.

This award recognises architecture that goes beyond the formal and focuses on the essential: the relationship between space and people. Undoubtedly, Liu Jiakun's work reminds us that architecture not only constructs buildings, but also stories, communities and ways of life.