Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to Liu Jiakun of China, who earned the field’s highest honor for “affirming architecture that celebrates the lives of ordinary citizens,” organizers announced Tuesday.

Explore Liu Jiakun's architectural philosophy: a unique blend of tradition, sustainability, and social interaction in modern design.

Speaking to CNN ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, the founder of one of China’s first private architecture firms reflects on a career designing unpretentious buildings in an era of excess.

While many architects expand career horizons globally, Chinese architect Liu Jiakun, who is also the 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, was engrossed in designing a mixed-use courtyard complex in his hometown of Chengdu,

The Chinese architect was recognized by the jury for his ability to draw on every site’s unique heritage and challenges.

Liu, known for understated structures that respond to their surroundings, has been awarded the profession’s highest honor.

Liu Jiakun, Chinese architect and founder of Jiakun Architects since 1999, is the 54th winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest international recognition in the field of architecture.

The Chinese architect just won the highest honor in architecture for his thoughtful approach to density and public spaces. Across the city of Chengdu, China, the quiet but remarkable buildings of Liu Jiakun have slowly pierced through the dominant stereotype of bombastic Chinese architecture.

The 69-year-old architect and founder of Jiakun Architecture is known for work that underscores the way people are intended to use a space. Not just the way they use the space, in fact, but who, and where,

Liu was recognized for designs that celebrate ‘everyday lives of people as well as their communal and spiritual identities’