The annual Pritzker Architecture Prize has been awarded to Liu Jiakun of China, who earned the field’s highest honor for “affirming architecture that celebrates the lives of ordinary citizens,” organizers announced Tuesday. Liu, based in Chengdu in China’s southwestern Sichuan region, has said that the purpose of his architecture “is to create a beautiful, just and dignified living environment,” and that he tries to balance commercial needs with the human needs of the public. The architect “upholds the transcendent power of the built environment through the harmonizing of cultural, historical, emotional and social dimensions, using architecture to forge community, inspire compassion and elevate the human spirit,” Pritzker organizers said in a statement.