Smiljan Radić Clarke: Get to Know the 2026 Pritzker Winner’s Work

Vik Millahue Winery. Millahue, Chile. 2013. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio Palma

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The 2026 Pritzker Price Award has been awarded this year to the Chilean architect of Croatian descent, Smiljan Radić Clarke. Born in Santiago, Chile, in 1965, his practice evokes a geography of extremes, shaped by the tectonic tension between the staggering weight of the Andes and the seismic instability of the territory. After graduating from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and pursuing further studies in aesthetics in Venice, Smiljan Radić Clarke established his base in Santiago. From there, he has developed one of the most singular visions in contemporary architecture. His work privileges the intensity of the moment through a fragile architecture. Within it, the building operates as a temporary and tactile refuge that places the spectator in a state of aesthetic uncertainty, oscillating between ancestral ruin and avant-garde artefact.

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This raw material identity is consolidated through his ongoing collaboration with sculptor Marcela Correa, whose craft anchors Smiljan Radić’s architecture to a visceral, tactile reality. They transform massive elements—such as multi-ton granite rocks selected from local quarries—into structural pieces that support concrete slabs or define spaces. This tension between geological mass and lightweight structures of resin or fibreglass reveals a methodology centred on the texture of analog thought, where intuition and material testing restore a human and artisanal scale to the creative process.

His spaces, often characterized by an introverted and cavernous quality, function as shelters that appeal to a primitive memory through phenomenological scaling, the ability to observe the morphology of an everyday object—such as a deformed plastic container or a papier-mâché model—and project a habitable dimension onto it. Embracing the imperfection of materials like cedar, copper, or resin, his practice prioritizes the question over the dogma. The work of Smiljan Radić stands as a sophisticated synthesis of the human condition, finding harmony in the collision of opposing forces: that strange mixture of our biological fragility and the spiritual ambition to endure through time.

Related Article Smiljan Radić Clarke Receives the 2026 Pritzker Prize, The Artist of Unspoken Architecture Teatro Regional del Bío Bío. Concepción, Chile. 2018. Image © Iwan BaanSelected WorksGuatero, Bubble for the XXII Chilean Architecture Biennial. Santiago, Chile. 2023Guatero, Bubble for the XXII Chilean Architecture Biennial. Santiago, Chile. 2023. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaGuatero, Bubble for the XXII Chilean Architecture Biennial. Santiago, Chile. 2023. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaLondon Sky Bubble for Alexander McQueen. Tobacco Dock, London, United Kingdom. 2021 Museo en Campaña, Santiago, Chile. 2021Museo en Campaña, Santiago, Chile. 2021. Image © Fabian DejtiarTeatro Regional del Bío Bío. Concepción, Chile. 2018Teatro Regional del Bío Bío. Concepción, Chile. 2018. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaTeatro Regional del Bío Bío. Concepción, Chile. 2018. Image © Hisao SuzukiBoca Sur Civic District. Concepción, Chile. 2016Boca Sur Civic District. Concepción, Chile. 2016. Image © Maria GonzálezBoca Sur Civic District. Concepción, Chile. 2016. Image © Maria GonzálezNAVE, Performing Arts Center. Santiago, Chile. 2015NAVE, Performing Arts Center. Santiago, Chile. 2015. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaNAVE, Performing Arts Center. Santiago, Chile. 2015. Image © Nico SaiehSerpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, United Kingdom, 2014Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, United Kingdom, 2014. Image © Iwan BaanSerpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, United Kingdom, 2014. Image © Iwan BaanBus Stop. Krumbach, Austria. 2013Bus Stop. Krumbach, Austria. 2013. Image © Yuri PALMINBus Stop. Krumbach, Austria. 2013. Image © Yuri PALMINHouse for the Poem of the Right Angle. Vilches, Chile. 2013House for the Poem of the Right Angle. Vilches, Chile. 2013. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaHouse for the Poem of the Right Angle. Vilches, Chile. 2013. Image © Gonzalo PugaChile Antes de Chile, Extension of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Santiago, Chile. 2013Chile Antes de Chile, Extension of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Santiago, Chile. 2013. Image © Nico SaiehChile Antes de Chile, Extension of the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. Santiago, Chile. 2013. Image © Nico SaiehVik Millahue Winery. Millahue, Chile. 2013Vik Millahue Winery. Millahue, Chile. 2013. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaVik Millahue Winery. Millahue, Chile. 2013. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaChilean House 1. Rancagua, Chile. 2006Chilean House 1. Rancagua, Chile. 2006. Image Courtesy of Smiljan RadićRestaurant Mestizo. Santiago, Chile. 2006Restaurant Mestizo. Santiago, Chile. 2006. Image © Gonzalo PugaRestaurant Mestizo. Santiago, Chile. 2006. Image © Gonzalo PugaCopper House 2. Talca, Chile. 2006Copper House 2. Talca, Chile. 2006. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaCopper House 2. Talca, Chile. 2006. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaPite House. Papudo, Chile. 2005Pite House. Papudo, Chile. 2005. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaPite House. Papudo, Chile. 2005. Image © Cristobal Palma / Estudio PalmaCarbonero House. Melipilla, Chile. 1998Carbonero House. Melipilla, Chile. 1998. Image Courtesy of Smiljan RadićCarbonero House. Melipilla, Chile. 1998. Image Courtesy of Smiljan Radić

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Related Article Smiljan Radić Clarke Receives the 2026 Pritzker Prize, The Artist of Unspoken Architecture