The winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Architecture

Chinese architect Liu Jia-kun has been awarded this year's Pritzker Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize for Architecture, for his "architecture that serves the lives of ordinary people", the awarding body announced on Tuesday.

Liu, 68, has earned professional acclaim for his work in relieving urban congestion by creating usable public spaces.

"Liu upholds the transcendent power of the built environment by harmonizing its cultural, historical, emotional and social dimensions, using architecture to forge community, inspire compassion and uplift the human spirit"

- says the panel deciding on the Pritzker Prize.

Designed a courtyard system covering an entire building block

Of the architect's 30 or so projects, including university institutions, commercial buildings and civic spaces, the West Village, completed in Chengdu in 2015, was highlighted. Liu designed a courtyard system covering an entire block, with the largest possible internal green space and sports fields. The five-storey project also includes pathways for cyclists and pedestrians. Community areas are open to all and visitors can walk freely.

Other notable works include the sculpture department building at Sichuan University of Fine Arts in Chongqing, which the jury said "offers an alternative way to maximise space" by gradually extending the upper floors of the building outwards to increase the tight footprint.

No architecture without poetry

Liu was born in 1956 in Chengdu, where he continued his architectural studies and established his own architectural practice in 1999. He says that he is not driven by the need to make his buildings instantly recognisable by their style.

"I prefer to take a methodical and strategic approach," he explained, adding that he aims to first "fully understand the site", then find resources and identify problems, and then refine and develop his plans.

"Put simply, the job of architects is to provide better living conditions for people," Liu Jia-kun told the AP news agency in his office in Chengdu. He added that he feels the most important thing is to design something that is functional, "but if that's all you can do, you can't call it architecture, so you have to put poetry into it".