The Monday 9 May, a talk by renowned Chilean architect Smiljan Radic marks the close of Foros 2016 “Origen”, a public cycle of lectures on architecture organized by the School of Architecture at UIC Barcelona. With the evocative title “Bestiary”, Smiljan Radic will be presenting the unique and relaxed approach to style, language and architectural method that he uses, which has positioned his work as an exponent of contemporary architecture.
For Radic, the term “bestiary” refers to a family of projects that illustrate moments which others call architecture, a premise that is the point of departure for his talk at the School of Architecture; a look at the ideas that generate his works, the effects they have on their surroundings and their relationship with the world around them. For this Chilean architect, a good building is the illustration of a momentary conviction that is capable of civilizing its surroundings.
Smiljan Radic is a member of Chile’s “golden generation”, who, along with names such as Mathias Klotz, Cecilia Puga and Alejandro Aravena, started to make a name for himself in the nineties, when Chile began to open up to the world and to democracy, with the invitation to take part in the Venice Biennale and the country’s leading role in the Congress of the International Union of Architects in Barcelona in 1996. Radic set up his practice in 1995 in Chile, after postgraduate studies at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia and winning the competition for Iraklio Square in Crete. In 2001, the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile awarded him the prize to the best Chilean architect under the age of 35 for his project for the civic neighbourhood of Concepción and, in 2009, he was named honorary member of the American Institute of Architects. His work has been shown in prestigious galleries such as the Hiroshima Contemporary Art Museum and TOTO·Gallery MA in Tokyo.
Foros 2016 cycle, “Origin”, organized by the School of Architecture at UIC Barcelona, comes to a close on Monday 9 May with a lecture by renowned architect Smiljan Radic, an exponent of contemporary architecture and the golden generation of Chilean architecture.
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Smiljan Radic Clarke was born in Santiago de Chile in 1965. He studied at the Catholic University of Chile's School of Architecture, where he graduated in 1989. Later, he studied at the Istituto di Architettura di Venezia, Italy. After travelling for three years, he opened his own practice in Santiago in 1995. In 2001, he was named ‘Best under 35-year-old architect’ by the Chilean College of Architects, and in 2009, he was appointed as an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, USA.
Smiljan Radic has lectured extensively and has mounted several architecture exhibitions on his work, including in 2013 - The Wardrobe and the Mattress, Hermes Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Bus Stop for Krumbach, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria; Ilustraciones, Galeria AFA, Santiago; in 2012 - An Orange Tree Noise at the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan; and in 2010 Global Ends, Ma Gallery in Tokyo, and People Meet in Architecture, with sculptor Marcela Correa at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Smiljan Radic has won numerous contests, such as the Regional Theatre (Concepción, 2011) and the Telecommunication Tower (Santiago, 2014). His work has been published in several architecture journals and monographs, the most recent being El Croquis N° 167, Madrid, Spain. He currently lives and works in Chile.
In 2017, Radić founded the Fundación de Arquitectura Frágil, housed within his home studio in Santiago, to support experimental architecture that challenges disciplinary boundaries. Through exhibitions, workshops, and shared inquiry, the foundation reflects his belief in architecture as a collective and evolving practice.
Radić’s work has been recognized with numerous international honors, including being named Best Architect Under 35 by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Chile (Chile, 2001), the Architectural Record Design Vanguard Award (United States, 2008), the Oris Award (Croatia, 2015), the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (United States, 2018), and the Grand Prize at the Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito (Ecuador, 2022). He is an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, since 2009 and 2020, respectively.
Radić’s work has been featured in major exhibitions internationally, including Global Ends at Gallery Ma (Tokyo, Japan, 2010); Un Ruido Naranjo at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima, Japan, 2012); The Wardrobe and the Mattress, Hermès Gallery, Tokyo, with Marcela Correa (Tokyo, Japan, 2013); Bus Stop for Krumbach at Kunsthaus Bregenz (Bregenz, Austria, 2013); Smiljan Radić: BESTIARY at TOTO Gallery Ma (Tokyo, Japan, 2016); The House for the Poem of the Right Angle in Endless House: Intersections of Art and Architecture at The Museum of Modern Art (New York, United States, 2015–2016); and Guatero Bubble at the XXII Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Chile (Santiago, Chile, 2023).
Radić continues to live and work from Santiago, Chile, sustaining an experimental architectural practice.
Published on:
May 4, 2016
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"Chilean architect Smiljan Radic at Barcelona" METALOCUS.
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