Pritzker Prize winning architect Liu Jiakun to deliver lecture at Newcastle University

Acclaimed Chinese architect Liu Jiakun will be discussing his celebrated work at the Curtis Auditorium on 27 January.

He won the highest honour in Architecture, the Pritzker Prize, in 2025 in recognition of his remarkable career which spans more than thirty projects. His work is renowned for the way it is rooted in everyday cultures, materials, traditions and histories, yet speaks to architecture’s transcendent qualities, fostering community and evoking calmness, solemnity and poetry.

“Lia Jiakun reminds us that architecture is not only about form, but about cultural memory, place and lived experience,” says Dr Paola Gazzola, Head of the School of Architecture , Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University.  “His work offers an important model for how architects can engage critically and compassionately with the interdependencies and complexities of our world, giving voice, depth and texture to personal expressions, positionalities, sensitivities and contexts; and evoking social consciousness.

“We are delighted to welcome Liu Jiakun to our Intersections public lectures series, which promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking opportunity for students, practitioners and the wider public.”

Jianfei Zhu, Professor of East Asian Architecture at Newcastle University, said: “Liu Jiakun, from Sichuan in China, is an architect whose work prioritises fluid strategy over fixed form at multiple scales in both urban and rural settings.

“As an Architecture department which hosts annual design for architecture and the built environment forums in China and is committed to engaging globally, we are proud to host Liu’s lecture at Newcastle University.  We look forward to hearing his thoughts on the issues and challenges facing architecture and design today.”

Born in 1956 in Chengdu, Liu studied at the Institute of Architecture and Engineering in Chongqing – now Chongqing University. After graduating in 1982, he worked for the state-owned Chengdu Architectural Design and Research Institute, before founding his practice Jiakun Architects in 1999.

His key projects include the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum (Chengdu, China, 2002), Rebirth Brick China, 2008), Hu Huishan Memorial (Chengdu, China, 2009), Shuijingfang Museum (Chengdu, China, 2013), Novartis (Shanghai) Block – C6 (Shanghai, China, 2014), West Village (Chengdu, China, 2015), Suzhou Museum of Imperial Kiln Brick (Suzhou, China, 2016), Songyang Cultural Neighborhood (Lishui, China, 2020), The Renovation of Tianbao Cave District of Erlang Town (Luzhou, China, 2021) and The Grand Canal Hangzhou Steelworks Park – Phase 1 (Hangzhou, China, 2024).

The lecture has been organised by the Farrell Centre and the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University in partnership with RIBA and supported by FaulknerBrowns, Napper and Space Syntax.