Search
Architecture

Smiljan Radić Clarke Awarded 2026 Pritzker Architecture Prize

The 55th laureate is being recognized for his practice spanning cultural institutions, civic spaces, commercial buildings, private residences, and more

By Alexandria Sillo
Man sitting in an office with bookshelves in the background, featuring architectural models on wooden tables.
Smiljan Radić Clarke. Photo: courtesy of The Pritzker Architecture Prize

Chile’s Smiljan Radić Clarke has been named the 2026 recipient of the heralded Pritzker Architecture Prize for his “optimistic and joyful” modern works. While the 60-year-old’s most recognized structure is likely the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion in London, his works span cultural institutions, civic spaces, commercial residences, and more.

 “Through a body of work positioned at the crossroads of uncertainty, material experimentation, and cultural memory, Smiljan Radić favors fragility over any unwarranted claim to certainty,” the Jury Citation states, in part. “His buildings appear temporary, unstable, or deliberately unfinished—almost on the point of disappearance—yet they provide a structured, optimistic and quietly joyful shelter, embracing vulnerability as an intrinsic condition of lived experience.”

Modern building with curved roof and stone pathway surrounded by water and mountains in the background.
Vik Millahue Winery. Photo: Courtesy of Cristobal Palma
Historic beige building with arched entrance, wooden windows, and balustrade on an urban street corner.
Chile Antes de Chile. Photo: Courtesy of Cristobal Palma

Rather than follow a uniform formula, Clarke approaches each project as a site-specific commission, with leading examples including Pite House, located on the rocky cliffside in Papudo, Chile, NAVE Performing Arts Center in Santiago, Chile, and the Vik Millahue Winery in Millahue, Chile.

Modern glass and steel building with illuminated interior lights on a clear evening, showcasing architectural design.
Teatro Regional del Biobío. Photo: Courtesy of Iwan Baan

“Architecture exists between large, massive, and enduring forms—structures that stand under the sun for centuries, waiting for our visit—and smaller, fragile constructions—fleeting as the life of a fly, often without a clear destiny under conventional light,” says Radić. “Within this tension of disparate times, we strive to create experiences that carry emotional presence, encouraging people to pause and reconsider a world that so often passes them by with indifference.”

Modern, illuminated, oval-shaped pavilion on grassy hill with trees in the background during evening.
Serpentine Pavilion in London. Photo: courtesy of Iwan Baan
Modern, oval-shaped pavilion with open entry, surrounded by trees and grass, featuring geometric cutouts and illuminated interior.
Serpentine Pavilion in London. Photo: courtesy of Iwan Baan
View of a blue sky through a modern architectural structure with curved walls and a cross symbol inside.
Serpentine Pavilion in London. Photo: courtesy of Iwan Baan
Modern pavilion with a rounded, minimalist design, supported by rocks, set on a manicured lawn with trees in the background.
Serpentine Pavilion in London. Photo: courtesy of Iwan Baan
Modern architectural structure with curved metal panels and large stones in a park setting.
Serpentine Pavilion in London. Photo: courtesy of Iwan Baan

Last year, the award went to China’s Liu Jiakun, with past notable honorees including Riken Yamamoto, Sir David Alan Chipperfield CH, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, Diébédo Francis Kéré, and others.