The annual Pritzker Structure Prize has been awarded to Liu Jiakun of China, who earned the sector’s highest honor for “affirming architecture that celebrates the lives of ordinary citizens,” organizers introduced Tuesday.
Liu, primarily based in Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan area, has stated that the aim of his structure “is to create a beautiful, just and dignified living environment,” and that he tries to stability business wants with the human wants of the general public.
The architect “upholds the transcendent power of the built environment through the harmonizing of cultural, historical, emotional and social dimensions, using architecture to forge community, inspire compassion and elevate the human spirit,” Pritzker organizers stated in an announcement.
Liu is thought for creating public areas in extremely populated cities the place there may be little public area, “forging a positive relationship between density and open space,” the assertion stated.
Organizers cited his West Village in Chengdu, a 2015 five-story undertaking that spans a block. It features a perimeter of pathways for cyclists and pedestrians round “its own vibrant city of cultural, athletic, recreational, office and business activities within, while allowing the public to view through to the surrounding natural and built environments.”
Additionally they famous the Sichuan Superb Arts Institute Division of Sculpture in Chongqing, which they stated shows an alternate resolution to maximizing area, “with upper levels protruding outward to extend the square footage of a narrow footprint.”
In an interview Sunday in his workplace in Chengdu, Liu stated he was not a type of architects who likes to have a strongly recognizable visible type. Somewhat, he stated, he pays extra consideration to methodology and technique.
“Many architects use a strong personal style and form to gain a foothold in the world,” Liu informed The Related Press, talking in Mandarin. “No matter where it is, people can tell immediately that it is his or her work with a very strong symbolism. But I am not such a kind of architect.”
“I don’t want to have a very clear or obvious style that can be recognized as mine just at a glance,” he stated. “I take a more methodological and strategic approach. I hope that when I go to a specific place, I can use my methodology and strategy to adapt to local conditions. I like to fully understand the place, and then look for resources, problems … and then distill and refine, and finally turn (this) into my work.”
Liu additionally stated he tries to stability his nation’s inventive and architectural heritage with the realities of recent expertise.
“I think China’s traditional architecture is of course brilliant and very classic,” he stated, “but it is a product of its time.”
He stated he hopes to deeply perceive “the thematic part of tradition that can survive,” after which specific it with modern expertise and language. In that manner, he stated, “tradition can be used as a core … but the presentation of your work is contemporary.”
Liu stated he additionally seeks to stability business imperatives with civic issues.
“The rapid development of cities nowadays is basically driven by capital. It is natural for capital to pursue profits,” he stated. However he added: “You have to leave the public the space they deserve. Only in this way can the development of a city be positive and healthy, rather than being completely high-density, where people live in drawers and boxes … without even a place to go and no space for communication.”
Liu is the 54th laureate of the Pritzker Structure Prize, established in 1979 by the late entrepreneur Jay A. Pritzker and his spouse, Cindy. Winners obtain a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion.
The prize has typically been equated to the Nobel. Requested if he thought the consideration would impression his life, Liu replied: “I have thought about it. But I want to maintain normalcy … I don’t want to become nervous about everything. Of course, it has its advantages. I will definitely not need to promote myself too much. But will it also make me better at work? Not necessarily. Excessive expectations may become a pressure.”
He had one other concern, too.
“And will it make me too busy and prevent me from working more attentively?” he contemplated. “I hope to keep the normalcy and the freedom, as well as calmness.”
——
AP senior video producer Wayne Zhang contributed from Chengdu, China
