Smiljan Radić wins Pritzker
Chilean architect Smiljan Radić has been named the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate — the award cites his poetic use of materials and landscape and cements his international stature. His work was recently framed as “modernity tucked inside tradition,” including a timber-lined Dutch house profiled this week. (dezeen.com) (d5mag.com)
The Pritzker jury’s written citation highlights Radić’s embrace of “fragility” and material experimentation, saying his buildings “appear temporary, unstable, or deliberately unfinished” while still offering “structured, optimistic and quietly joyful shelter.” (pritzkerprize.com) Radić is listed as the 55th Pritzker Laureate on the prize’s site, and the organization confirms laureates receive a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion. (pritzkerprize.com 1) (pritzkerprize.com 2) Organizers say the award presentation is typically held in May and media coverage notes Radić’s 2026 announcement was delayed this year amid scrutiny of Tom Pritzker’s ties revealed in the Jeffrey Epstein-related documents. (archpaper.com) He is the second Chilean architect to win the Pritzker after Alejandro Aravena took the prize in 2016, joining a shortlist of previous Chilean laureates and raising attention to Chilean architecture globally. (designboom.com) (pritzkerprize.com) The jury citation and Pritzker materials single out site-specific projects such as Restaurant Mestizo (2006), Pite House (2005) and the Chile Antes de Chile extension (2013) as examples of Radić’s adaptive, context-driven strategies. (pritzkerprize.com) International commissions and installations in Radić’s portfolio include the 2014 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London and the VIK Millahue winery in Chile, both frequently cited in profiles of his career. (archdaily.com) Radić founded his practice, Smiljan Radić Clarke, in 1995 after studying at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, and he established the Fundación de Arquitectura Frágil in 2017 before opening a physical home for his Cloud ’68 collection in 2024. (pritzkerprize.com) (d5mag.com) (pinupmagazine.org)
