Smiljan Radić: Material Explorations Between Ephemerality and Permanence

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Chilean architect Smiljan Radić Clarke has developed a body of work that resists easy categorization. His buildings often seem both ancient and provisional, carrying a monumental presence while retaining an unexpected sense of fragility. Stone, concrete, timber, fabric, and fiberglass are combined in unexpected ways, producing architectures that hover between permanence and ephemerality. Rather than pursuing a stable formal language, the 2026 Pritzker laureate approaches architecture as an open field of experimentation, where material behavior and structural perception are constantly tested.

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Radić himself describes architecture as existing within a tension between different temporalities:

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Cite: Agustina Iñiguez and Eduardo Souza. "Smiljan Radić: Material Explorations Between Ephemerality and Permanence" 17 Mar 2026. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1039595/smiljan-radic-material-explorations-between-ephemerality-and-permanence> ISSN 0719-8884

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