2016 Prtizker Prize Winner and 2018 RIBA Charles Jencks Award laureate, Alejandro Aravena is a Chilean architect known for his socially conscious projects that attempt to bridge the economic divide in urban areas. He is known for building “incremental housing” – affordable housing in economically vibrant urban locations, partly backed by government subsidies.

Aravena earned a degree in architecture in 1992 from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago. Two years later he established his own practice and undertook some building projects for the university, including the mathematics school, the schools of medicine and of architecture, and the technology centre, a structure that appears to be two buildings conjoined and thus called the Siamese Towers.

Following the Chile earthquake and tsunami in 2010, Aravena was involved in rebuilding the town of Constitución. He built the Villa Verde Housing, a seaside promenade, and the Constitución Cultural Centre.

Instagram: @alejandroaravenaarquitecto