The International VELUX Award 2022 announces ten regional winners

The International VELUX Award jury selected ten regional winners from the 507 submitted projects, from 211 school of architecture around the world. 

The renowned jury 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) who 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, and it is rewarding to see so many beautiful, innovative and responsible approaches to the theme “Light of tomorrow – stated Tina Christensen, the director of the International VELUX Award.   

The jury noted that the future-oriented nature of the projects was high in imagination and aspiration. It was the overall impression that the 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  

Student: Zuzanna Sazonow and Aleksandra Pytka 
School: Politechnika Poznańska 
Teachers: 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  

Students: ISHIMWE MUNYANDEKWE Augustin 
School: University of Rwanda – School of Architecture & Built Environment 
Teacher: Dr Josephine Malonza 
Country: Rwanda  

 Region The Americas: Martian Light  

Students: Gray Burke 
School: University of Miami 
Teacher: Yasmine Zeghar Hammoudi 
Country: United States of America  

 Region Asia & Oceania: Under the Three Gorges Project  

Students: Yawen Qiao 
School: Southwest Jiaotong University 
Teacher: 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 
Teacher: Rima Fayaz and Maryam Fakhari 
Country: Islamic Republic of Iran 

 Western Europe: Solar Hymnal  

Students: Jaan Gröndahl 
School: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences 
Teacher: Janne Järvinen 
Country: Finland  

The regional winners are invited to the 3-day trip to Lisbon, Portugal, to the World Architecture Festival end of November. At this largest global annual architectural event, they will present their projects to the jury.  

In essence, what we were looking for was 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, the verbal communication of their idea – says 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).

You can also watch the announcement video here or read more about the winning projects here.