Who is the 2025 Pritzker Prize winner Liu Jiakun?
The career of 2025 Pritzker Prize winner Liu Jiakun has been shaped by an unconventional path through the profession and an inherent sense of cultural and historical awareness. Born in 1956 in Chengdu, China, Jiakun's early years were influenced by the medical profession of his family and the environment of the Chengdu Second People’s Hospital, where his mother worked as an internist. The hospital setting nurtured in Jiakun a sense of religious tolerance that would later inform his architectural philosophy. Photo courtesy of Liu JiakunJiakun’s introduction to architecture came unexpectedly. Initially drawn to the creative arts, he found inspiration through drawing and literature. A teacher’s suggestion led him to consider architecture as a profession, and in 1978, he enrolled at the Institute of Architecture and Engineering in Chongqing (now Chongqing University). Jiakun graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture, joining the first generation of architects task...
The career of 2025 Pritzker Prize winner Liu Jiakun has been shaped by an unconventional path through the profession and an inherent sense of cultural and historical awareness. Born in 1956 in Chengdu, China, Jiakun's early years were influenced by the medical profession of his family and the environment of the Chengdu Second People’s Hospital, where his mother worked as an internist. The hospital setting nurtured in Jiakun a sense of religious tolerance that would later inform his architectural philosophy.
Jiakun’s introduction to architecture came unexpectedly. Initially drawn to the creative arts, he found inspiration through drawing and literature. A teacher’s suggestion led him to consider architecture as a profession, and in 1978, he enrolled at the Institute of Architecture and Engineering in Chongqing (now Chongqing University). Jiakun graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture, joining the first generation of architects task...
