The International VELUX Award jury has selected ten regional winners from the 507 submitted projects, from 211 schools of architecture around the world. The renowned jury was comprised of Anupama Kundoo, Anupama Kundoo architects (IN), John Ronan, John Ronan Architects (US), Rainer Hofmann, Bogevischs Buero (DE), Fuensanta Nieto, Nieto Sobejano Arquitos (ES), and Lotte Kragelund from VELUX A/S (DK), all of whom met for the jury meeting in Copenhagen.
It is great to see such a fantastic response to the competition, from so many schools of architecture around the world. Our aim with this competition is to bring together teachers and students on the topic of daylight. It is rewarding to see so many beautiful, innovative and responsible approaches to the theme ‘Light of tomorrow’ - Tina Christensen, Director of the International VELUX Award.
The jury noted that the future-oriented nature of the projects was high in imagination and aspiration. The overall impression was that students are engaged in the environmental, social, cultural and political key issues of our time and that they are really seeking and exploring solutions. In particular, the jury were struck by the range of issues that the students identified as being relevant to their future. This consisted of both common global themes as well as regional and local concerns. The jury were particularly drawn to projects that make a specific impact on the environment and show the potential for an architectural intervention of equality.
Natural light is a resource that will become ever more pertinent given the growing high-density nature of the urban fabric. There is thus a genuine daylight challenge for all of us and a need for greater knowledge and willingness to work with daylight in architectural practice, which the student projects demonstrate.
The jury made their final evaluation of the projects in accordance with the following criteria from the award brief: 1) the work with daylight as a premise for architecture, 2) how the project is researched and documented, 3) how the project addresses contemporary and future challenges, 4) the level of experimentation and innovation, as well as the overall graphic presentation of the project or how the project presents itself.
The jury unanimously selected the winners as listed below.
The following regional winning projects in the Daylight in Buildings category were awarded with 1,000 € for the student(s) and 250 € for the teacher(s):
Region Africa, project: Aqua Mart
Student: Elmarie van Staden
School: Greenside Design Centre, College of Design
Teacher: Jean Wiid
Country: South Africa
Region The Americas, project: 24-HOUR DAYLIGHT: A pavilion that reconnects the city with light
Students: Adrian Paocarima Herrera, Melissa Anabelle Ulcuango Merino and Kevin Daniel Arroyo Males
School: Universidad Central del Ecuador
Teacher: Paul Esteban Paredes Escobar
Country: Ecuador
Region Asia & Oceania, project: Lighting up, Neighbourhood Hop
Students: Feng Meiyin, Feng Yijun and Zhang Jinru
School: Beijing Jiaotong University
Teacher: Wang Xin
Country: China
Region Eastern Europe & the Middle East: TIP - Time Indicate Protection
Students: Zuzanna Sazonow and Aleksandra Pytka
School: Politechnika Poznańska
Teacher: Patrycja Kamińska
Country: Poland
Region Western Europe: Spotlight Tree: Self-regulating System in Desert Environment
Students: Zhao Liuxin, Liu Wanchen, Xin Guanbai and Dong Zhenbin
School: The University of Sheffield
Teacher: Bobby Nisha
Country: United Kingdom
The following regional winning projects in the Daylight Investigations category were awarded with 1,000 € for the student(s) and 250 € for the teacher(s):
Region Africa: Limitless Daylighting
Student: ISHIMWE MUNYANDEKWE Augustin
School: University of Rwanda - School of Architecture & Built Environment
Teacher: Dr Josephine Malonza
Country: Rwanda
Region The Americas: Martian Light
Student: Gray Burke
School: University of Miami
Teacher: Yasmine Zeghar Hammoudi
Country: United States of America
Region Asia & Oceania: Under the Three Gorges Project
Student: Yawen Qiao
School: Southwest Jiaotong University
Teachers: Jun Wang and Huang Xuan
Country: China
Region Eastern Europe & the Middle East: Flight
Students: Sajjad Navidi, Mahya Mousavi Sadr and Elham Bahadori
School: University of Art, Tehran
Teachers: Rima Fayaz and Maryam Fakhari
Country: Islamic Republic of Iran
Western Europe: Solar Hymnal
Student: Jaan Gröndahl
School: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Teacher: Janne Järvinen
Country: Finland
The regional winners are invited to a 3-day trip to Lisbon, Portugal, to the World Architecture Festival at the end of November. At this large annual global architectural event, they will present their projects to the jury.
In essence, what we were looking for were projects that foreground daylight and directly address the theme, Light of tomorrow. There had to be a vision, but also there had to be technical support of that vision and concise explanation of the idea. The selected regional winners were good on all three of those areas. And I can speak for the whole jury when I say that we're all very excited to see the students present their work in Lisbon, for the verbal communication of their ideas – John Ronan, the jury chair.
After the regional winners’ project presentation at the World Architecture Festival, the jury will select the two global winners of the International VELUX Award 2022. The winners in categories Daylight Investigations and Daylight in Buildings will receive the prize of 5,000 €; 4,000 € to the student(s) and 1,000 € to the teacher(s).
About the International VELUX Award
The International VELUX Award is a competition for students of architecture that runs every second year. Since its launch in 2004, it has grown into the largest competition of its kind with students from 800 schools, from 130 countries of all continents, submitting more than 6,000 projects for the award theme “Light of Tomorrow”.
International VELUX Award 2022 is organised in close collaboration with the International Union of Architects and the World Architecture Festival, and is acknowledged by the European Association for Architectural Education).
Find out more about the competition here.