Alejandro Aravena is partner and executive director of Elemental, a socially motivated architecture practice and “Do-Tank” based in Santiago, Chile. Aravena considers the primary purpose of architecture to be to improve people’s lives by assessing both social needs and human desires, as well as political, economic, and environmental issues. His work with Elemental includes the Mathematics Faculty, Medical Faculty, and Architecture School for the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago; Huelquen Montessori School, Chile; new facilities for St Edward’s University in Austin, USA; and various social housing and urban projects. The firm won first prize in the Tehran Stock Exchange Competition, and has also received two Avonni Prizes. Aravena was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2016. The same year, he was appointed curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale.