Liu Jiakun

Once Liu Jiakun dedicates himself to the field of architecture rather than to literature, then he became a novelist in the manifestation of architecture. Looking back at Liu Jiakun’s practices and works, from designing studios for artists including Luo Zhongli and He Duoling to the notable buildings, such as the Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Art Museum, the comprehensive teaching building of the sculpture department in the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Rebirth Brick Project at the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, and many creative renovated projects worldwide. The double sides of Liu Jiakun with his personal identities as a litterateur and an architect have infiltrated and merged, nurturing him to be a prominent architect who has translated the Oriental culture into a contemporary language of architecture.

In 2010, two years after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, comprehensive art curator Weng Ling had an interview with Liu Jiakun, and both of them are original rooting from Sichuan and Chongqing areas. In the conversation, they had an in-depth dialogue on the field of literature, art and architecture, and were trying to explore the spirits from their inner world. What impressed Weng Ling was that Liu Jiakun built a 19 square meters house as a monument for a sorrowful couple of parents who lost their daughter during the accidents. Instead of recording the incredibly hurt and grief, he preferred a normal way to monumentalize an ordinary person. He revealed that different from others ambitious, these things are what he obeys from his inner world. 

Cogitating the reason that he reserves himself to be an architect instead a litterateur, perhaps as he said, ‘When you live, you need to discover a speciality adhere for yourself, and if that thing is not enough worth to do, then all turn to be meaningless.’