Liu Jiakun facts for kids

Liu Jiakun (born 1956) is a famous Chinese architect. He is known for his simple, human-focused designs. He also uses local ideas and materials in his buildings. In 2025, he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is a very important award in architecture. Many of his buildings are in his hometown of Chengdu, China.

Early Life and Education

Liu Jiakun was born in Chengdu, a city in the Sichuan Province of China. His mother was a doctor. When he was 17, during a time called the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to the countryside. He worked there as a laborer, which was part of a program for young people.

Liu first wanted to be an artist. But he became interested in architecture because it involved drawing and design. In 1982, he finished his studies at the Chongqing Institute of Architecture and Engineering. He earned a degree in architecture.

Career Highlights

After college, Liu worked at a government design institute in Chengdu. He later traveled to Tibet and Xinjiang, exploring art and writing. In 1993, he returned to architecture. He was inspired by an art show by a former classmate. He then started having important discussions about architecture with artists and a poet.

In 1999, Liu Jiakun started his own company, Jiakun Architects, in Chengdu. Since then, his company has completed over 30 projects. These projects include buildings for schools, cultural centers, public spaces, and businesses. They also include city planning work.

Design Ideas and Key Projects

Liu's designs focus on using local ideas, traditional building methods, and eco-friendly practices. He avoids overly fancy styles. His projects often use materials from the area. They also show a beauty in things that are not perfectly smooth or new.

After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Liu found a special way to help. He used rubble from the earthquake to make new building materials. He mixed the rubble with local straw and cement to create bricks. This showed how communities could rebuild and be strong. These special bricks were used in buildings like the Novartis Building. They were also used in the Shuijingfang Museum and the West Village in Chengdu.

Liu also designed the Hu Huishan Memorial [zh]. This memorial honors a 15-year-old girl who died when her school collapsed in the earthquake. The building looks like a tent. It holds some of Hu's personal items, like a scarf and a backpack.

In 2002, he designed the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum in Chengdu. It looks like a traditional Chinese garden. It holds a private collection of Buddhist relics. In 2013, he worked on the Shuijingfang Museum [zh]. This museum was built on the site of a 600-year-old distillery. It teaches about the history of Chinese Baijiu liquor. His design for the Museum of Clocks shows clocks that mark the end of the Cultural Revolution in China.

His business projects include the Shanghai campus for the company Novartis. He designed it in 2014. This campus mixes traditional Chinese looks with a modern outside. It has many balconies on different levels. His 2015 project, "West Village" in Chengdu, is a public space. It has offices, places for fun, sports, and culture. It looks simple and not flashy, unlike the tall buildings nearby. The village block has walking paths, green areas, and cycle paths. Liu also designed a maternity ward at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Exhibitions and Global Recognition

Liu's designs have been shown around the world. This includes the Venice Architecture Biennale. He also had his own show at the AEDES Gallery in Berlin. In 2018, he was asked to design the Serpentine Pavilion in Beijing. This project brought him international attention.

Awards and Achievements

Liu Jiakun has received many awards for his work:

• 2003: Honorary Award of the 7th Asian Construction Association
• 2003: China Architectural Art Award
• 2006: Architectural Record China Award (for Best Public Architecture)
• 2007: Far Eastern Architecture Award
• 2009: Architectural Society of China "Architectural Creation Award"
• 2010: Architectural Record China Awards (for Best Historic Preservation Building and Best Public Building)
• 2017: Far Eastern Architecture Award
• 2025: 4th China Construction Ingenuity Person of the Year Award
• 2025: Pritzker Architecture Prize. He was the third architect born in China to win this award. The Pritzker jury praised Liu for respecting culture, history, and nature. They said his work tells stories of time and makes people feel comfortable. They also noted his modern take on classic Chinese architecture. The award statement said Liu "imagines and constructs new worlds, free from any aesthetic or stylistic constraint."

Images for kids

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  Teahouse at the Jinhua Architecture Park (2002)

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  Hu Huishan Memorial Museum [zh] (2008)

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  Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu (2011)

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  Museum of Clocks, Jianchuan

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  West Village Basis Yard [zh] Chengdu (2015)

See also

In Spanish: Liu Jiakun para niños