Following the news that Smiljan Radić has won this year’s delayed Pritzker Architecture Prize, we round up eight projects from the Chilean architect’s experimental career.
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Pite House, Chile, 2005
The Pite House hangs off the cliffside in Papudo, and is made up of several concrete volumes.
A cantilevered pool looks out onto the water below, while the interior is primarily open plan, with large windows lining the cliffside facade.
Photo by Cristobal Palma (also top)
VIK Winery, Chile, 2014
Located in Millahue, Chile, VIK Winery is covered by a low-lying stretched fabric roof, while the majority of the building is located underground.
Its sprawling entrance includes a rock garden by Radić and his wife, sculptor Marcela Correa, which leads to the building’s transparent facade via a network of stone pathways.
Photo by Iwan Baan
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, London, 2014
The architect’s 2014, doughnut-shaped Serpentine Gallery Pavilion was made of a paper-thin layer of white fibreglass, from which a metallic wedge protruded from the side.
“For me, this pavilion is a folly, and the folly historically is a romantic place, a place of extravagance and a place of atmosphere,” he said the day the structure debuted. “So this pavilion had to both occupy and create a symbolic place.”
Find out more about the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion ›
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Teatro Regional del Bíobío, Chile, 2018
Located in Concepción, the Teatro Regional del Bíobío was designed by Smiljan Radić along with architects Eduardo Castillo and Gabriela Medrano.
The theatre‘s offset, concrete structure is covered in a white skin made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which becomes semi-transparent at night when the interior is illuminated.
Find out more about the Teatro Regional del Bíobío ›
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Prism House + Terrace Room, Chile, 2020
Located near Conguillío National Park, the Prism House + Terrace Room is made of two triangular volumes joined together by a broad deck.
For the design, the architect looked to the geometrical structure of the 1974 Prism House by architect Kazuo Shinohara, as well as his own projects, calling the house “an exercise in repetition and replication”.
Find out more about the Prism House + Terrace Room ›
Photo by Cristobal Palma
House for the Poem of the Right Angle, Chile, 2020
Radić based the unusual, protruding angles and forms of the House for the Poem of the Right Angle on an abstract painting by architect Le Corbusier.
Its twelve-centimetre-thick reinforced concrete walls form an assemblage of skylights, curved walls, harsh right angles and a cantilever, while the interior is lined in wood and encircles a central courtyard.
Find out more about the House for the Poem of the Right Angle ›
Photo courtesy of Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen stage, London, 2021
This bulbous stage was designed for an Alexander McQueen Spring Summer 2022 show and marked the brand’s first London show after a 20-year hiatus, as well as its return to physical presentations after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Radić, a long-time collaborator of the fashion brand, worked with structural specialist ES Global and creative agency Gainsbury&Whiting to create the steel tensile structure, which contained rows of wooden chairs for guests.
Find out more about the Alexander McQueen stage ›
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Chile Biennial inflatable stage, Chile, 2023
Radić worked with fellow architect Nicolás Schmidt to create a reflective, inflatable installation for the country’s architecture biennial in Santiago.
Sited in the Plaza de la Cultura, multiple weights held down the structure on the exterior, while the cavernous interior held chairs and screens for presentations.
Find out more about the Chile biennial installation ›