讀後心得

Architect Liu Jiakun from Chengdu was awarded the Pritzker Prize this year. He focuses on creating tranquil and simple public spaces and has completed over thirty architectural projects within China. The jury praised his works for their coherence and for transcending the constraints of traditional aesthetics, advocating for architectural strategies rather than fixed styles. His architectural approach is context-specific, often utilizing local materials, emphasizing environmental sustainability, and showcasing the preciousness of "imperfection" over time. Liu Jiakun's four representative works include: 1. Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Sculpture Building: Constructed with recycled materials from the Wenchuan earthquake to create regenerated bricks. 2. Luyeyuan Stone Carving Art Museum: Designed as a Chinese garden, it showcases Buddhist stone carvings while blending with the natural environment. 3. Suzhou Imperial Kiln Brick Museum: An inward-oriented garden space that modernly interprets traditional brick kiln culture. 4. Jinchuan Museum Cluster Bell Museum: Creates a tranquil space within a commercial area, with sunlight pouring into the courtyard from a circular ceiling. The jury pointed out that Liu's architectural approach offers new thinking to address the challenges of urbanization.

The highest honor in the architecture world, the Pritzker Prize, has been awarded this year to Liu Jiakun, an architect from Chengdu, China.

At 68 years old, Liu Jiakun has primarily created tranquil and simple public spaces in his hometown of Chengdu and the surrounding area of Chongqing. To date, he has completed more than thirty architectural projects, all located in China. His works are spread across densely populated urban environments where open space is scarce, encompassing public areas such as academic and cultural institutions, urban spaces, commercial buildings, and urban planning. The jury praised his architectural style for its coherence and its escape from the shackles of various aesthetics or styles. Liu Jiakun advocates for architectural strategies rather than being confined to a specific style. He has mentioned, "Style is like a double-edged sword; it can make you memorable but may also limit your development."

Because traditional forms represent a combination of human culture and technology, focusing solely on surface appearances would leave one trapped in that era, leading to superfluous additions to architecture to highlight certain features. Therefore, his design approach is repetitive, with each project being tailored to its context, presenting a completely new daily life scene. True cultural heritage lies in drawing from tradition while interpreting it through modern techniques and methods. He often chooses local raw materials instead of manufactured products, which not only saves costs but also aligns with environmental principles, realizing the belief of "built for the community, by the community." The clever use of raw materials allows the architecture to showcase the intrinsic qualities and craftsmanship of the materials, reflecting the increasingly precious "imperfections" that come with the passage of time. His architectural philosophy is fully manifested in the following four representative works:

• Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Sculpture Department Building: Located in a narrow section of Sichuan Academy, it replicates the swirling textures of Chongqing's mortar plastering techniques. These details have not been smoothed out but are intentionally preserved. He salvaged materials from the Wenchuan earthquake ruins, reviving both the materials and their inherent spirit, and reinforced them with local wheat straw fibers and cement to create bricks that possess both higher physical strength and economic benefits than the original materials. This "recycled brick" has been extensively used in projects such as Novartis Building, Shui Jing Fang Museum, and Xi Village Courtyard.

• Located in a bamboo forest in Chengdu, the Luyeyuan Stone Carving Art Museum: Primarily collections of Buddhist stone carvings, its design adopts a Chinese garden layout that allows visitors to traverse between natural and artificial spaces. The building's exterior walls utilize local craftsmanship by using bricks as molds to create composite walls of exposed concrete. Cleverly using gaps between the architectural structure to introduce light showcases the collections and the surrounding scenery, integrating the entire building with the natural environment.

• Suzhou Royal Kiln Brick Museum: Located in the Suzhou Lu Tomb Royal Kiln Site Park in Xiangcheng District, it primarily conserves the site and displays golden brick artifacts. The park is designed with an enclosing layout, creating an inward-looking garden space that maximally protects the core area. A tree-lined path on the north side isolates it from the noise of the outside world, and the winding interior paths create a sense of "changing scenery with every step." The main building combines elements of brick kilns and palaces, using modern techniques to reinterpret tradition, embodying the spirit of "Royal Kiln." Within the architectural complex, various levels of bricks are stacked to emphasize the value of golden bricks, forming a chronicle of bricks. The landscape design preserves the site's original appearance, recreating the past production glory of golden bricks through intact, partially destroyed, and ruined kilns.

• The Bell Museum of the Jinchuan Museum Cluster: This museum is located in an area of commercial wasteland in Chengdu, forming a stark contrast between the noisy surrounding commercial area and the quiet core exhibition area. Sunlight pours into the brick wall courtyard through a circular ceiling, creating an effect akin to a sundial.

"In a world that can easily become mundane, he has found a completely new architectural approach capable of simultaneously creating buildings, infrastructure, landscapes, and public spaces. In today's rapidly developing cities, his works provide us with influential new ideas to respond to the various challenges brought by urbanization."