Media Advisory
1 February 2018
Columbia GSAPP Faculty Jing Liu was announced as one of three winners of the 2018 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Architecture for her “innovative interdisciplinary work and for developing new approaches to urban housing.” Awarded annually, the Vilcek Prizes call attention to the breadth of immigrant contributions to the American arts and sciences. The Vilcek Prize in the Arts is awarded in rotating disciplines, this year honoring the field of architecture. The Prize for Creative Promise, which includes a $50,000 cash award, is given to younger immigrants who have demonstrated exceptional promise early in their careers. The prizewinners were selected by panels of experts in each field; they will be honored at an awards gala in New York City in April 2018.
“The Vilcek Prizes were established in grateful recognition of the many immigrants who chose to contribute their vision, talent, and efforts to American society,” says Rick Kinsel, president of the Vilcek Foundation. “This year’s prizewinners honor and continue that legacy with works of astounding, revolutionary importance.“
A native of China, Liu has been a faculty member at Columbia GSAPP since 2009. She is also a principal of the Brooklyn-based architecture studio SO-IL. Since founding the firm in 2008 with her partner, Florian Idenburg, she has gone on to design many high-profile and award-winning projects around the world, including the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California, Davis; the New York venue for Frieze Art Fair; and Pole Dance, an installation at MoMA PS1. The firm is known for its work in the arts as well as for its innovative approaches to housing.
The 2018 Vilcek Prize for Architecture was awarded to Teddy Cruz (Estudio Teddy Cruz+Forman). Additional recipients of the 2018 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Architecture include Mona Ghandi (University of Washington) and James Leng (Office James Leng). For more information about the prizewinners and jurors, please visit vilcek.org.