Meet the Chilean Architect Who Just Won the Industry’s Highest Honor
The 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate ‘epitomizes the revival of a more socially engaged architect’
A commitment to social housing set a Chilean architect apart from others in his field to become the recipient of the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the industry’s highest honor. “Human life is so much richer than money,” Alejandro Aravena, 48, told The New York Times shortly after learning of the award.
The jury continued: “Alejandro Aravena epitomizes the revival of a more socially engaged architect, especially in his long-term commitment to tackling the global housing crisis and fighting for a better urban environment for all. He has a deep understanding of both architecture and civil society, as is reflected in his writing, his activism and his designs.”
Shown here is an example of the innovative “incremental housing” approach that Aravena developed. The process allows him to design “half of a good house” on more expensive land near economic opportunity, and leave space for residents to complete the house themselves, giving “residents a sense of accomplishment and personal investment,” the foundation says.
On top is Aravena’s initial development financed with public money. Below is what residents added themselves. “What we’ve been trying to do is communicate that architecture, instead of an extra cost, is an added value,” Aravena told The New York Times. “We would like to apply our talent — our knowledge — to challenges that affect the majority of the population.”
Shown: Villa Verde Housing (2013); Constitucion, Chile
Photos by Elemental
Shown here is an example of the innovative “incremental housing” approach that Aravena developed. The process allows him to design “half of a good house” on more expensive land near economic opportunity, and leave space for residents to complete the house themselves, giving “residents a sense of accomplishment and personal investment,” the foundation says.
On top is Aravena’s initial development financed with public money. Below is what residents added themselves. “What we’ve been trying to do is communicate that architecture, instead of an extra cost, is an added value,” Aravena told The New York Times. “We would like to apply our talent — our knowledge — to challenges that affect the majority of the population.”
Shown: Villa Verde Housing (2013); Constitucion, Chile
Photos by Elemental
Praise for the architect flooded social media soon after the announcement. Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic at The New York Times, wrote on Twitter that he was very pleased with the announcement and that Aravena is a “humane and elegant architect.”
Aravena told Architectural Record after he got the news: “For a couple of minutes I misunderstood what I was being called for. Then when I realized, the emotion was so overwhelming I couldn’t speak. I was too touched.”
Here, Aravena’s challenge was to accommodate 100 families living in a 30-year-old slum using a subsidy of $7,500. He provided the families with the “half house” that would have been difficult for the families to build themselves, and left space for them to complete the house as they saw fit. “After a year, property values tripled, and yet all the families have preferred to stay and keep on improving their homes,” Aravena says.
Shown: Quinta Monroy Housing (2004); Iquique, Chile
Photos by Cristobal Palma
Aravena told Architectural Record after he got the news: “For a couple of minutes I misunderstood what I was being called for. Then when I realized, the emotion was so overwhelming I couldn’t speak. I was too touched.”
Here, Aravena’s challenge was to accommodate 100 families living in a 30-year-old slum using a subsidy of $7,500. He provided the families with the “half house” that would have been difficult for the families to build themselves, and left space for them to complete the house as they saw fit. “After a year, property values tripled, and yet all the families have preferred to stay and keep on improving their homes,” Aravena says.
Shown: Quinta Monroy Housing (2004); Iquique, Chile
Photos by Cristobal Palma
Here’s another example of Aravena’s “half of a good house” design approach. Again, on top is Aravena’s initial development financed with public money. Below includes what residents added themselves.
Shown: Villa Verde Housing (2013); Constitucion, Chile
Photos by Elemental
Shown: Villa Verde Housing (2013); Constitucion, Chile
Photos by Elemental
Looking for a cheaper response to affordable housing in Mexico, which Aravena says begins at $30,000, he used the incremental housing approach to design these houses topped with duplexes. These have an initial cost of $20,000 but can “achieve middle income standard of 72 square meters [about 775 square feet] after self-built expansions,” he says.
Shown: Monterrey Housing (2010); Monterrey, Mexico
Photo by Ramiro Ramirez
Shown: Monterrey Housing (2010); Monterrey, Mexico
Photo by Ramiro Ramirez
The architect has created many “energy-efficient buildings [that] respond to the local climate with innovative, efficient facades and floor plans and offer the users natural light and convivial meeting places,” the foundation said in a statement.
While Aravena says glass is an inappropriate material for Santiago’s climate because it creates a greenhouse effect, he decided to use it for an exterior shell on these two towers, encapsulating another building on the inside that’s more energy-efficient and allows air flow between the two structures.
Shown: Siamese Towers (2005), San Joaquin Campus, Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by Cristobal Palma
While Aravena says glass is an inappropriate material for Santiago’s climate because it creates a greenhouse effect, he decided to use it for an exterior shell on these two towers, encapsulating another building on the inside that’s more energy-efficient and allows air flow between the two structures.
Shown: Siamese Towers (2005), San Joaquin Campus, Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Shown: Siamese Towers (2005), San Joaquin Campus, Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Photo by Cristobal Palma
Aravena graduated as an architect from the Universidad Catolica de Chile in 1992, and established his own practice two years later. In 2001, he began leading Elemental, a “Do Tank,” which “focuses on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation,” according to the foundation.
Here, a series of coastal lookout points sit along areas from the mouth of Maule River to Maguellines Port in Constitucion Chile, part of the Post-Tsunami Sustainable Reconstruction Plan.
Shown: Constitucion Seaside Promenade (2014); Constitucion, Chile
Photo by Felipe Diaz
Here, a series of coastal lookout points sit along areas from the mouth of Maule River to Maguellines Port in Constitucion Chile, part of the Post-Tsunami Sustainable Reconstruction Plan.
Shown: Constitucion Seaside Promenade (2014); Constitucion, Chile
Photo by Felipe Diaz
Tom Pritzker, chairman and president of the Hyatt Foundation, which sponsors the award, said Aravena’s work “gives economic opportunity to the less privileged, mitigates the effects of natural disasters, reduces energy consumption and provides welcoming public space. Innovative and inspiring, he shows how architecture at its best can improve people’s lives.”
Here, Aravena created a rest stop on a remote hillside that’s part of a Mexican pilgrimage route. The bent, hollowed stone-like structure offers shade and cross ventilation.
Shown: Las Cruces Pilgrim Lookout Point (2010); Jalisco, Mexico
Photo by Iwan Baan
Here, Aravena created a rest stop on a remote hillside that’s part of a Mexican pilgrimage route. The bent, hollowed stone-like structure offers shade and cross ventilation.
Shown: Las Cruces Pilgrim Lookout Point (2010); Jalisco, Mexico
Photo by Iwan Baan
Aravena served on the Prtizker Prize jury from 2009 to 2015, was a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2000 and 2005, and is currently the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016, set to open in May of this year.
“Alejandro Aravena is leading a new generation of architects that has a holistic understanding of the built environment and has clearly demonstrated the ability to connect social responsibility, economic demands, design of human habitat and the city,” the jury wrote. “Few have risen to the demands of practicing architecture as an artful endeavor, as well as meeting today’s social and economic challenges. Aravena, from his native Chile, has achieved both, and in doing so has meaningfully expanded the role of the architect.”
Shown: Medical School (2004), Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by Roland Halbe
“Alejandro Aravena is leading a new generation of architects that has a holistic understanding of the built environment and has clearly demonstrated the ability to connect social responsibility, economic demands, design of human habitat and the city,” the jury wrote. “Few have risen to the demands of practicing architecture as an artful endeavor, as well as meeting today’s social and economic challenges. Aravena, from his native Chile, has achieved both, and in doing so has meaningfully expanded the role of the architect.”
Shown: Medical School (2004), Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by Roland Halbe
Shown: Writer’s Cabin (2015), Jan Michalski Foundation; Montricher, Switzerland
Photo by +2 Architectes
Photo by +2 Architectes
Shown: Atrium, UC Innovation Center — Anacleto Angelini (2014), San Joaquin Campus, Universidad Catolica de Chile; Santiago, Chile
Photo by James Florio
Photo by James Florio
Aravena and his partners at Elemental — Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddo and Diego Torres — were tapped to work on the reconstruction of the city of Constitucion, Chile, following a 2010 earthquake and tsunami.
Shown: Post-Tsunami Sustainable Reconstruction Plan of Constitucion (2010 to ongoing); Constitucion, Chile
Image by Elemental
Shown: Post-Tsunami Sustainable Reconstruction Plan of Constitucion (2010 to ongoing); Constitucion, Chile
Image by Elemental
As for what’s ahead for Aravena and Elemental, the architect wrote in an email to the foundation that he and his colleagues “hope to use its momentum to explore new territories, face new challenges, and walk into new fields of action.”
He adds, “After such a peak, the path is unwritten. So our plan is not to have a plan, face the uncertain, be open to the unexpected.”
Shown: Elemental, left to right: Alejandro Aravena, Claudio Tapia, Gonzalo Arteaga and Paula Livingstone; Santiago, Chile
See previous Pritzker Prize winners: Frei Otto | Shigeru Ban | Toyo Ito | Wang Shu
Photo by Elemental
He adds, “After such a peak, the path is unwritten. So our plan is not to have a plan, face the uncertain, be open to the unexpected.”
Shown: Elemental, left to right: Alejandro Aravena, Claudio Tapia, Gonzalo Arteaga and Paula Livingstone; Santiago, Chile
See previous Pritzker Prize winners: Frei Otto | Shigeru Ban | Toyo Ito | Wang Shu
Photo by Elemental
His work spans a broad spectrum of scale and purpose, from single-family houses to large institutional buildings. “He understands materials and construction, but also the importance of poetry and the power of architecture to communicate on many levels,” wrote the nine-member jury, which included Pritzker laureates Glenn Murcutt and Richard Rogers, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, in its citation.
Photo by Cristobal Palma