Alejandro Aravena and Smiljan Radić Win Chile's National Architecture Prize 2026

On July 27, 2026, the National Board of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile awarded the 2026 National Architecture Prize jointly to architects Alejandro Aravena Mori and Smiljan Radić Clarke. Both are Pritzker Prize laureates—Aravena in 2016 for his work with ELEMENTAL, and Radić in 2026. The prize recognizes their contributions to positioning Chilean architecture internationally and their impact on local development. The award, established in 1969 and granted biennially since 1979, is the highest local distinction for architects. Past recipients include Fernando Castillo Velasco, Alberto Cruz Covarrubias, and Miguel Lawner Steiman, with only one joint award to a woman (Antonia Lehmann in 2004). Aravena is noted for social housing, Radić for exploratory, sculptural work. Their work will be featured at the XXIV Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Chile in 2027, opening with a public conference. Separately, in Ecuador, SANAA-led team won the design for the Nuevo Museo Nacional de Ecuador in Quito, replacing an earlier selection. In Argentina, winning proposals for the Centro Argentino de Innovación in Buenos Aires were announced. In Chile, the Teatro Mauri in Valparaíso, a modernist landmark, reopened after over two decades of abandonment.