Smiljan Radić Biography, Buildings and Best Books

Smiljan Radić Clarke (born 1965) is a Chilean architect based in Santiago whose work explores fragility, the found object and the raw materials of the Chilean landscape. His projects include the Charcoal Burner’s Hut in Culiprán, the House for the Poem of the Right Angle in Vilches, the 2014 Serpentine Pavilion in London, the VIK winery in Millahue and the Biobío Regional Theatre in Concepción. In 2026 he received the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Santiago and Venice

Radić was born in Santiago in 1965 to a family of Croatian origin. He graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1989 and continued his studies in history and theory at the IUAV in Venice. He opened his office in Santiago in 1995 and often works with his wife, the sculptor Marcela Correa.

Small buildings and the found object

His early works were small and experimental: the Charcoal Burner’s Hut in Culiprán (1999), built from charred timber, houses on Chiloé island and restaurants and pavilions that used boulders, cast concrete and everyday materials. The House for the Poem of the Right Angle in Vilches (2012), a concrete shell open to the forest, became one of his best-known works.

The Serpentine Pavilion and VIK

In 2014 Radić designed the Serpentine Pavilion in London, a translucent fibreglass shell resting on large quarry stones, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story The Selfish Giant. The VIK winery in the Millahue valley (2014), with its translucent fabric roof over a water mirror, was designed with Loreto Lyon.

Theatres and the Pritzker Prize

The Biobío Regional Theatre in Concepción (2018), wrapped in a translucent skin that glows at night, is his largest public building. Radić has taught at universities in Chile, Europe and the United States, and in 2026 he became the second Chilean architect, after Alejandro Aravena, to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize.