Smiljan Radić Clarke Receives the 2026 Pritzker Prize, The Artist of Unspoken Architecture
Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke has been announced as the laureate of the 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize, regarded as one of the highest honors in the field of architecture. The award recognizes Radić for a body of work that explores architecture through material experimentation, spatial perception, and a careful engagement with landscape and context.
Courtesy of Tom Welsh for The Pritzker Architecture Prize
Born in Santiago, Chile, where he continues to live and work, Radić leads the practice Smiljan Radić Clarke, established in 1995. As the second Chilean to receive the prize, after Alejandro Aravena in 2016, he joins a distinguished list of previous laureates, including Liu Jiakun in 2025, Riken Yamamoto in 2024, David Chipperfield in 2023, and Diébédo Francis Kéré in 2022.
House for the poem of the right angle, Vilches, Chile. Image © Smiljan Radić
Radić’s architecture operates within a territory where the phenomenological experience of space precedes explanation. His buildings often appear quiet, elemental, and resistant to easy verbal interpretation, encouraging visitors to experience them through movement, atmosphere, and perception rather than through formal expression.
Mestizo Restaurant, Santiago, Chile. Image © Gonzalo Puga
At the same time, his work demonstrates a sharp sensitivity to material presence, juxtaposing industrial components with raw or locally sourced elements to produce constructions that are both precise and tactile.
Vik Winery, Millahue, Chile. Image © Cristobal Palma
Across his projects, structures frequently appear provisional, fragile, or lightly anchored to the ground, suggesting a deliberate embrace of uncertainty and impermanence. His architecture privileges embodied presence, material intelligence, and a subtle yet powerful sense of fragility.
Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2014, London, UK. Image © Iwan Baan