Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, the 2016 Pritzker prize laureate and the director of the 2016 Venice Biennale, has been announced the winner of the 2017 Gothenburg Award for Sustainable Development. The international award of 1 million Swedish krona (SEK) is granted by the Swedish city in recognition of works that target sustainable development.
The Santiago-based architect works with his teammates from Elemental, a Do Tank founded in 2001, to plan strategies and provide good-value housing to the socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Their proposed and implemented solutions to face segregation are characterized by social and environmental sustainability.
© Manuel Albornoz
“Aravena is an innovative Chilean architect who, along with his colleagues in the ‘Do Tank’ firm Elemental, 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,” said the Gothenburg Award jury in their statement.
Aravena will receive the award on 22 November 2017 at Draken, Folkets Hus in Gothenburg, Sweden. There will be organized lectures and seminars during the architect’s presence in the city.