Global Winners Announced!
The VELUX Group is proud to announce that “Light Forms Juggler” by Anastasia Maslova and “Road to Light” by Yuhan Lou, Di Lan, Yuan Liu, Yusong Liu are the global winners of the International VELUX Award 2018 for Students of Architecture.
After thorough deliberations by the jury of internationally-acclaimed architects, the International VELUX Award 2018 has finally found two global winners. The jury selected the winners, following live presentations by nine regional winners.
Sunlight as a form giver
“Light Forms Juggler” by Anastasia Maslova from Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering in Russia was selected as a winner in the Daylight in Buildings category after impressing the jury by asking relevant questions about the way we design buildings today.
“The project exhibits rigorous exploration of daylight in buildings related to the urban scale,” agreed the jury.
“It showcases a strong architectural mind of thinking and the project raises a lot of questions.”
From left: Rick Joy, Li Hu, Anastasia Maslova, Sasa Begovic and Carme Pigem Barceló.
The project invites us to take a fresh look at architecture. At present, a very significant problem is insufficient lighting in buildings. But at the same time, there is so much sunlight. So how do we shape buildings to capture the maximum amount of natural light?
The project suggests a change in the shape of buildings and their openings, where rectangular shapes increasingly limit the penetration of light into space. It also analyses various alternative forms that maximise the potential of natural light penetration as well as investigating the shadows cast by buildings.
Paving the way with light
The global winner in the Daylight Investigations category, “Road to Light”, took home the prize after creating a well researched project that thoroughly addresses a real problem and presents a simple and practical solution.
“It is a simple solution that changes the life of children in remote rural areas. By Introducing small pieces of local materials, it encourages optimism growth and thinking,” stated the jury.
From left: Martin Pors Jepsen, Rick Joy, Li Hu, Yuhan Lou, Di Lan, Carme Pigem Barceló and Sasa Begovic.
The project, created by students from Tianjin University in China, stems from a very basic need for safe passage between communities. With the lack of road infrastructure and electricity in the mountainous topography of rural China, getting to school can be a very dangerous task for children – especially when coming home in the dark.
The team suggests introducing a small amount of inexpensive fluorite to the pathways. The bright colours of the stones will glow for several hours at night when irradiated by daylight during the day. Almost all provinces in China have large fluorite mines and the coarse processing of the raw stone into pavement material makes is economically feasible for poor rural areas.
The global winners were announced and celebrated at the closing gala dinner of the World Architecture Festival alongside the winners of professional architecture competitions.
4000 registered students
Launching in September 2017, the International VELUX Award have seen over 4000 registered students and over 600 submitted projects.
The jury, consisting of Carme Pigem Bareló, Rick Joy, Li Hu, Saša Begović and Martin Pors Jepsen, met in Copenhagen in June. There they selected 9 regional winners after reviewing all submitted projects.
All regional winners were invited to present their projects in front of the jury at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam on the 30th of November 2018.
Discover both the global and regional winners of the International VELUX Award 2018 here!
