Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena to host C+A talk in Sydney

Chilean architect and Pritzker laureate, Alejandro Aravena, will be travelling to Sydney in July for a presentation to be given as part of a talk series hosted by Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA).

The C+A Talks series operate in conjunction with the iconic C+A magazine, and bring architects of distinction to Australia as CCAA guests to address Australian audiences.

Alejandro Aravena is the Principal Director of the Chilean firm ELEMENTAL S.A, a “Do Tank” founded in 2001, focusing on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation.

In 2016, Aravena won the Pritzker Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious architectural awards. In the same year, he was invited to be Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale.

This year Aravena also became the first architect to ever receive the Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development, an international prize that recognises an individual or group for “outstanding performance and achievements towards a sustainable future.”

The Jury described Aravena as someone who “applies a design philosophy based on making inhabitants part of the solution instead of regarding them as a problem – building bridges of trust between people, companies and governments.”

“Mr Aravena, together with his colleagues in Elemental, argues that with the right design, sustainability is nothing but the rigorous use of common sense. The results are often simple solutions to the complex challenges.”

His works include the Novartis Office Building, Shanghai, China (2016);  UC Innovation Centre, Catholic University, Chile, Santiago (2014); Villa Verde Housing, Constitución, Chile (2013); Ocho Quebradas House, Los Vilos, Chile (2013); Bicentennial Children’s Park, Santiago, Chile (2012); St. Edward’s University Dorms, Austin, Texas, USA (2008).

In his Sydney presentation, to be held on 24 July at the University of NSW Kensington campus, Aravena will talk about ELEMENTAL’s approach to design as well as his own independent works and philosophies.

Head to the website for more information.