International VELUX Award 2006 for Students of Architecture

557 students out of 2,037 registered sent in their project entries for the International VELUX Award before the deadline 5 May. The jury met in Madrid on 21 – 22 June to evaluate all the projects and select the winners.

The 557 students represent countries all over the world. Asia as well as Europe and North/South America had strong representation.

"It is an impressive response rate. More than one in four registered students managed to complete their project on the overall theme of "Light of Tomorrow" and send in their entry for the jury's evaluation" says Peter N. Madsen, Strategic Marketing in VELUX.

Jury meeting in Madrid
The jury was put to hard work during their two-day session in Madrid on 21-22 June. The 557 projects were on display in a large refurbished industrial building, where the six jury members reviewed all projects in a thorough process, including individual evaluation as well as group discussions until the winners and honourable mentions had been found.

"I think it is quite impressive to be in one room with different ideas from all over the world and everyone is trying to pose different questions and give different answers. Students always surprise you by giving more ideas than you can imagine. And this is actually the quality of this kind of competition, to give the students freedom" said Omar Rabie, one of the jury members.

Award event in Bilbao
The number of winners, their names and nationalities will be announced at the award event taking place at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on 23 October 2006. The event will start at 3.30 pm with a guided tour of the Museum, followed by a lecture on the award theme, announcement of the winners and celebration at an evening reception. The winning students will all be invited to participate in Bilbao where they will meet fellow students, teachers and professors from schools of architecture as well as other building professionals from all over the world.

The International VELUX Award event coincides with several other events in Bilbao. VELUX will be launching the VELUX Atika, a full-scale concept house designed to combine superior indoor climate and daylight conditions with energy savings. The modular house is developed in close cooperation with the Spanish architects ACXT/idom. The VELUX Atika will be erected in the Bilbao harbour for the occasion to serve as meeting and exhibition facilities for the visitors during the weekend leading up to the award event.

And finally, the VELUX-sponsored round the world yacht race – VELUX 5 Oceans – will be kicked-off from the harbour in Bilbao on the afternoon of Sunday 22 October.

Facts about the International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture
The International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture takes place every second year and is part of a continuous VELUX effort to establish close relations to building professionals – not least architects and educational institutions. Under the title "Light of tomorrow" it is the aim of the award to pay tribute to daylight and to strengthen the role of daylight in building design. The open theme of the award encourages students of architecture to work with daylight – not just as a design component or external factor, but as a central architectural issue.

The award wants to celebrate and promote excellence in completed study works and to acknowledge students as well as their tutors. Therefore, every student or student team must be backed by a tutor from a school of architecture. In this way the award provides an excellent opportunity for tutors and students to work together exploring themes related to daylight.

The award is organised in close cooperation with the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE).

The jury members:

Kengo Kuma Roísín Heneghan Omar Rabie Douglas Steidl Per Olaf Fjeld Massimo Buccilli

Renier de Graaf from Holland, who should have been on the jury, sent his regrets that he could not participate in the jury meeting.
Please find more information about the award at www.VELUX.com/A