Chilean architect Fernando Perez Oyarzun received the 2022 National Architecture Award on 22 January 2023. The ceremony took place during the final day of the XXII Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism of Chile on vulnerable habitats. Organised by the College of Architects of Chile in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage the biennale aimed to address the vulnerabilities of cities and territories.
The National Architecture Award is the highest distinction that an architect or team of these can receive, whose career and ethical and professional performance have set an example for all architects.
Pérez Oyarzún graduated as an architect in 1977 from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) and as a Doctor of Architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture in 1981. He was dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts of the PUC and is currently a tenured professor. He was a Visiting Design Critic at Harvard University (1990), Visiting Fellow at the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Cambridge (1996) and Simón Bolívar Professor at the same university (2000). In 2007, he was a Research Fellow of the Swedish Center for the Advanced Study.
Pérez Oyarzún’s theoretical works have had an enormous impact in the Spanish-speaking world, being a benchmark that is both rigorous and with a certain philosophical flair, which knows how to precisely combine the local gaze and the international perspective.
In addition to being a critic and an expert in the history of architecture, he also has extensive experience in the professional practice of architecture. He is known for works such as the School of Medicine and the Biomedical Library, both at the Central Campus of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, in collaboration with Alejandro Aravena. Some of his other most relevant works include the Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza Cancer Center (1995-1997) (with Tomás dalla Porta, Osvaldo Muñoz and Equipo DPI); Academic Building Faculty of Arts (2013-2015) (with José Quintanilla and DESE Team); and the East Extension Center: Façade building and covered patio (2015-2019) (with José Quintanilla; Juan Eduardo Ojeda, collaborator; Ramón López, advisor; and DESE Team).