Chilean Architect Smiljan Radić Awarded Pritzker Prize

Smiljan Radić, a 60-year-old Chilean architect, has been named the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, an international award often referred to as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize in architecture. Radić becomes the second Chilean and fifth Latin American architect to receive the honor, which recognizes his body of work known for its experimental and context-dependent designs. The award ceremony will take place later this year, where Radić will receive a $100,000 grant and a bronze medal.

Jury Praises 'Radical Originality'

Smiljan Radić, who sometimes includes his mother's last name, Clarke, in official announcements, expressed surprise upon learning of the award and called it a "huge honor."

The Pritzker Prize jury, chaired by fellow Chilean laureate Alejandro Aravena, commended Radić for his "radical originality" and ability to "explore limits that have not yet been touched." Aravena further noted Radić's talent for "making the unobvious obvious" despite operating with a small practice and challenging circumstances.

The jury described Radić's designs as "optimistic and quietly joyful" and uplifting for those who experience them, while also observing that they can appear "precariously engineered or unfinished."

Radić's recognition follows a career that has established his reputation in artistic and intellectual communities. His firm, founded in 1995, has completed over 60 projects ranging from housing and arts venues to a winery and a bus stop shelter. While his work spans the Americas and Europe, the majority of his buildings are located in his native Chile.

Philosophical Approach and Signature Works

Radić is known for his experimental designs and a philosophical approach that integrates manmade and natural materials, often embedding structures in rocky terrain or making them appear to emerge from the ground. He has stated that his approach to materials is context-dependent, focusing on the tension in their use and historical position. Radić intentionally avoids a signature style, preferring to resolve each project individually to encourage different perspectives on material reality and memory.

Key Projects

• House for the Poem of the Right Angle (2013): A secluded black concrete house in Vilches, Chile, co-created with his wife and collaborator, sculptor Marcela Correa. Inspired by an abstract Le Corbusier painting, it features stark angles and sinuous bulges, designed for "contemplative retreat."
• Performing Arts Spaces: These include the NAVE arts hall in Santiago and the Teatro Regional del Bío Bío in Concepción. The Pritzker jury highlighted the theater's "carefully engineered semi-translucent envelope" for its light modulation and acoustic performance, allowing it to radiate warm light.
• VIK Winery: Located in Millahue, Chile, this winery's design reflects the industrial processes of winemaking rather than traditional romantic notions of terroir.
• Restaurant Mestizo (Santiago): Features a roof supported by large load-bearing stones sourced from a local quarry.
• Pite House (Papudo): A residence designed to be nestled on a cliffside.
• Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (Santiago): A contemporary expansion of the 18th-century museum.
• Alexander McQueen Collaborations: Recent designs for high fashion brand stores in cities including Miami, Las Vegas, London, and Dubai.

Expanding International Reach

Radić's international profile grew significantly in 2014 when he was invited to design the Serpentine Pavilion in London. This commission, which he found surprising, involved creating a cocoon-like fiberglass ring positioned on large rocks. The installation, described as a "glowing rotund pod," was praised by critics for its timeless quality and appearance reminiscent of science fiction or a primordial past. The Serpentine Pavilion commission significantly impacted his career.

Following this, Radić completed work in Croatia, Italy, and the United States, including the Alexander McQueen flagship store in Miami. He also produced an inflatable pavilion for the Chilean Architecture Biennial in 2023 and has ongoing projects in the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, and Albania, including a residential tower complex.

Personal and Prize Background

Born in Santiago, Radić grew up in an immigrant family with Croatian and British heritage. His architectural education at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile was formative, where he also studied history and met his future wife, Marcela Correa.

The Pritzker Prize, first presented in 1979, has honored influential figures such as Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, and Rem Koolhaas. In recent years, juries have also acknowledged architects focused on smaller-scale or socially-minded designs. Alejandro Aravena, who chairs this year's jury, won the award ten years prior, a victory Radić noted had a "major effect" on Chilean architects.

Radić commented on receiving the award during what he described as a "sad moment in history," noting that architecture is a "positive act" that helps create "concrete realities where people can value their surroundings in a different way," referencing a 1940s poem by Nicanor Parra.

Prize Integrity Amidst Scrutiny

The announcement of this year's Pritzker Prize was briefly delayed. This delay occurred after files released by the US Justice Department revealed then-executive chairman Tom Pritzker’s association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Tom Pritzker has since stepped down from his role at Hyatt and stated he would "step aside from matters relating to the Prize," acknowledging "terrible judgment."

A spokesperson for the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the Pritzker Prize, stated that the foundation protects the award from external influence. Radić confirmed he considered the matter but chose to accept the award, citing the composition of the jury—which includes former laureates Anne Lacaton and Kazuyo Sejima, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and Yale School of Architecture Dean Deborah Berke—as a guarantee of the prize’s integrity. He reiterated his belief in architecture as a positive act and the Pritzker Prize as part of that act.