The International VELUX Award 2006 is Open

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The International VELUX Award 2006 is open. Students of architecture from all over the world are invited to participate in the second International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture.

On 1 October the second International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture opens for registrations. Students from all over the world are invited to participate and VELUX encourages them to explore daylight in architecture under the overall theme of "Light of Tomorrow".

"Our vision is to promote daylight. We want to encourage discussion on daylight and inspire students to work with daylight, not just as a design component or external factor but as an essential and inherent issue. We thereby hope to once again be able to present a pool of talents and creative ideas as inspiration for the architecture of tomorrow, thus also providing input for the context and relevancy of our products.

Furthermore, we hope that the award can give students from all parts of the world the opportunity of having their ideas evaluated and discussed by some of the world's most respected architects," says Project manager Lone Feifer from VELUX, the international manufacturer of roof windows and skylight systems.

There are no pre-defined categories in the award, and neither is the award restricted to the usage of VELUX products. In stead the overall theme of Light of Tomorrow is open to a wide range of interpretations, exploring the boundaries of daylight in architecture as regards for instance aesthetics, functionality and sustainability.

Close cooperation between students and their tutors
The winners of The International VELUX Award 2006 for Students of Architecture will be announced and celebrated at an award ceremony in October 2006, when the submitted projects have been reviewed by an international jury currently being constituted. All projects have to be approved by a tutor from the student's school prior to submission. This tutor will serve as first jury and will also be awarded for tutoring winning projects. The total prize money is 30,000 Euros, which will be given to a number of prize winners and honourable mentions among the students and the associated tutors. The jury decides the number of winners and honourable mentions, who will also receive airfare and hotel when going to the award ceremony.

The International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture takes place every second year and is part of VELUX continuous effort to establish close relations with building professionals – not least architects and educational institutions. For the 2004 award VELUX received 258 projects from 105 schools in 27 countries. The award is organised in close cooperation with the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE).

Students must register their intention to participate before February 2006 and submission deadline will be in May 2006.

1 October 2005
The jury for the International VELUX Award 2006 for Students of Architecture has been announced, comprising the following members:

Mr. Kengo Kuma, Japan
Mr. Reinier de Graaf, the Netherlands
Ms. Róisín Heneghan, Ireland
Mr. Omar Rabie, Egypt
Mr. Douglas Steidl, USA (UIA representative)
Mr. Per Olaf Fjeld, Norway (EAAE representative)
Mr. Massimo Buccilli, Italy (VELUX representative)

A broad geographical coverage has been a key criterion for the composition of the jury to underline the global scope of the 2006 Award. Thus, four continents are represented on the jury: the well-known Japanese architect Kengo Kuma from Kengo Kuma & Associates represents Asia; Europe is represented by the new and upcoming architect Róisín Heneghan from heneghan.peng architects in Ireland and by Reinier de Graaf from AMO, the leading-edge think tank of OMA (Office of Metropolitan Architecture) in Rotterdam.

From North America comes Douglas Steidl, President of AIA (the American Institute of Architects), representing UIA (International Union of Architects). And finally, Africa is represented by MIT-student of architecture Omar Rabie from Egypt.

EAAE (European Association for Architectural Education) is represented by Vice President Per Olaf Fjeld from the Oslo School of Architecture, and Massimo Buccilli, General Manager of VELUX Italia, is the VELUX representative on the jury.

The jury will meet in June 2006 to review all entries, and in particular they will look for projects that push the frontier and raise questions, projects that demonstrate basic architectural knowledge and methods, and projects that relate considerations on daylight to human beings and their living conditions. The winners will be announced at the award ceremony in Europe in October 2006, and all projects will be exhibited online at the project website: www.VELUX.com/A.

Facts about the jury members

Mr. Kengo Kuma, Japan
Kengo Kuma, Japanese architect, founding partner of Kengo Kuma & Associates. From 2001 associated professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University. Kengo Kuma has designed a large number of award winning projects in Japan and internationally. Furthermore, he is the author of several books and monographs on Japanese architecture.

Mr. Reinier de Graaf, the Netherlands
Reinier de Graaf is director of AMO, the experimental think tank of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) in the Netherlands. AMO goes beyond the traditional architectural practice and has contributed to numerous projects in Europe and in the US.

Ms. Róisín Heneghan, Ireland
Róisín Heneghan is one of the founding partners of heneghan.peng architects in Dublin, Ireland. In 2003 Róisín Heneghan and partner Shih-Fu Peng won the open international competition for the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, one of the largest architectural competitions in recent times.

Mr. Omar Rabie, Egypt
Omar Rabie is currently studying post-graduate Master of Science in Architectural Studies at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Omar Rabie has contributed to a number of design projects in Cairo, Egypt, and served as a jury member on several international awards. Mr. Douglas Steidl, USA
In 2004 Douglas Steidl took up the position as President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), where he represents the more than 74,000 members of the AIA. Besides, Douglas Steidl is one of the founding partners of Braun & Steidl, a well-known American architect firm operating around the US since 1983.

Mr. Per Olaf Fjeld, Norway
Per Olaf Fjeld is professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. He has written a number of books and articles on architecture, and he has taught and served on juries throughout Europe. In 2004 he was elected Vice President of the European Association of Architectural Education (EAAE).

Mr. Massimo Buccilli, Italy
Massimo Buccilli serves on the jury on behalf of VELUX. Since graduation he has been employed in international companies and organisations dealing with cross-border cooperation and export matters. He has been with VELUX since 1991, and since 1997 he has held the position as Managing Director of VELUX in Italy.

The International VELUX Award is organised in cooperation with UIA, International Union of Architects and EAAE, European Association for Architectural Education.
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