On March 4, 2025, the Pritzker Architecture Prize announced Liu Jiakun of Chengdu as its 2025 laureate. The prize citation emphasized his architecture for ordinary citizens, his resistance to a fixed signature style, and his ability to make buildings that work simultaneously as infrastructure, landscape, historical record, and public space. Press coverage highlighted projects such as West Village in Chengdu and his use of locally resonant materials, including post-earthquake rebirth bricks. The award placed Liu's civic, human-centered practice within the top tier of global architectural recognition and broadened attention to contemporary Chinese architecture beyond spectacle-driven urban development.
The award elevated Liu's socially grounded architecture as a global model for dense, humane urban life.