The big news is out! The 2016 Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel Prize of architecture, has just been awarded to 48-year-old Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena. Whether it's affordable housing for the 99 percent or much-needed public spaces, Aravena, who is also the organizer for the upcoming Venice Biennale, approaches architecture with a refreshing pursuit of common sense, focusing on the—in our resident critic Alexandra Lange's words—"participatory process, local materials, and the simplicity that comes from an understanding of what will actually work." Be sure to read Lange's full analysis of Aravena's win here and check out the prize winner's own insightful 2014 TED talk this way. But first, browse through this gallery of the new Pritzker winner's major works, completed independently and with Elemental, the public-interest "do tank" he founded with engineer Andrés Iacobelli in 1994.
Captions are by Alejandro Aravena and all photos are courtesy Elemental.
UC Innovation Center–Anacleto Angelini, San Joaquín Campus, Universidad Católica de Chile—Santiago, Chile (2014)—Photo by Nina Vidic
∙ Pritzker Prize Winner for 2016 is Alejandro Aravena, the Chilean Architect Behind the World's Most Innovative Affordable Housing [Curbed]
∙ Pritzker Prize 2016 Predictions: Who Could (And Should) Win? [Curbed]
∙ A Primer on Alejandro Aravena, Director of the 2016 Venice Biennale [Curbed]