fragility

Radich Smilyan—a 2026 Pritzker Prize laureate in architecture—was born in 1965 in Santiago, the capital of Chile. In his work, Radich explores themes of refuge, shelter, and having a roof over one’s head—that is, protection—while simultaneously examining human fragility and vulnerability.

The architect also speaks to two fundamental versions of architecture: that designed for centuries of existence and the «short-term”—temporary, disappearing before our eyes. The tension between these temporal dimensions compels us to consider what we might otherwise pass by indifferently.