Pritzker Prize delayed amid Hyatt leader's Epstein scandal; Chilean architect Smiljan Radić named winner

The Hyatt Foundation, which administers the Pritzker Architecture Prize, said on the 13th that this year’s prize announcement has been delayed after Tom Pritzker, who leads the Hyatt Group, became entangled in the Epstein scandal and stepped down. The organizers had previously scheduled the winner’s announcement for the 2nd of the month.

The laureate named is Smiljan Radić, a Chilean architect described by the prize’s organizers as embracing a condition of vulnerability in architecture, with works that appear provisional or unstable yet resolutely engineered.

Radić is the fifth Latin American architect to win the Pritzker Prize in its 47-year history. Notable projects include Mestizo Restaurant in Santiago (2006) and an expansion of Chile’s Prehistoric Museum titled Antes de Chile (Santiago, 2013). Another signature work is the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London (2014), a donut-shaped structure made of a translucent fiberglass shell that appears to hover above rock.

The jury highlighted a conceptual thread in Radić’s work: architecture that exists between the ordinary, grounded forms and fragile, ephemeral structures, inviting viewers to pause and reconsider the world around them. They said his work opens an experiential dimension that is difficult to express in words.

Early in his career, Radić produced Coal House (1998), a project that signals impermanence and contingency in built form. The projects underscore his interest in how materials, geometry, and engineering interact to create spaces that feel both minimal and daring.

Radić was born in 1965 in Chile. His father is Croatian and his mother is British. He began architectural exploration at 14, and studied at the Catholic University of Chile and at the IUAV University of Venice. In 1995 he founded Smiljan Radić Clark, an architecture practice in Santiago, and in 2017 established the Fragile Architecture Foundation to support experimental work.

For U.S. audiences, the significance extends beyond a single prize. The Pritzker Prize is widely viewed as the architecture world’s premier international award, shaping design trends, enabling cross-border collaborations, and elevating the profile of architects who influence markets, firms, and institutions in the United States. The postponement of this year’s award, tied to the Epstein-related controversy surrounding Hyatt leadership, may prompt renewed scrutiny of governance and sponsorship in global cultural prizes, with potential ripple effects for international projects, partnerships, and funding in American architecture and higher education where prize-recognized practices often gain opportunities.