The International VELUX Award 2020 announces ten regional winners
The International VELUX Award jury selected ten regional winners and one honourable mention from the 579 submitted projects.
The esteemed international jury, comprising Odile Decq, Studio Odile Decq (FR), Nora Demeter, Demeter Design Studio (HU), Sebastian Adamo, Adamo-Faiden Architects (AR), Juri Troy, Juri Troy Architects (AT) and Martin Pors Jepsen from VELUX A/S (DK), evaluated the 579 daylight projects submitted from 250 different schools in 60 countries. The projects were submitted in two categories: Daylight in Buildings and Daylight Investigations. The judges unanimously agreed upon the winners during the virtual jury meeting held from 6-8 July 2020.
The jury reviewed all the projects, individually and across regions, to get an overall impression of the entries, their quality and their themes.
The jury observed strong overall engagement in the environmental, social, cultural and political challenges of our time, that students provided solutions to through the use of daylight.
In some cases, students showcase their region-specific architectural heritage, but they take up the common topics in the social and ecological dimensions. This reflects the truly global character of the competition
The projects demonstrated a strong commitment from both students and teachers regarding the topic of daylight. Specific themes were recognised as part of the same educational programme in schools. The projects signalled a multiplicity of directions and concerns that light plays an important spatial role as a common denominator and as an inspiration independent of latitudes and attitudes.
It was very nice to see how a lot of projects handled daylight as an important part of architecture. Not only as a technical aspect, but how it influences our world
The winners represent a mosaic of different approaches to the question of light, as they cover a range of futuristic concepts, technology and applications, as well as the more fundamental aspects of architecture, space, place and memory.
The winners from the ‘Daylight in Buildings’ category are:
Africa: A Million Little Lights
Student: Michali Jameson
School: Greenside Design Centre, College of Design
Teacher: Jean Wiid
Country: South Africa
The Americas: Bright Roots
Student: Alejandro Satt
School: Universidad Andrés Bello
Teacher: Javier Del Rio
Country: Chile
Asia & Oceania: Ink and Light
Students: Mingjie Guo, Jingwen Yang, Cong Liu, and Ziyong Mou
School: Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology
Teacher: Rui Wu
Country: China
Eastern Europe & the Middle East: SUNCITY
Student: Alperen Temur, Nasibe Nur Dündar, Nijat Mahamaliyev, and Ezgi Üzümcü
School: Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi
Teachers: Mehmet Cem Altun
Country: Turkey
Western Europe: Solar Desalination Skylight
Students: Henry Glogau
School: Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Teacher: David Garcia
Country: Denmark
The winners from the ‘Daylight Investigations’ category are:
Africa: Let There Be Light
Students: Emmanuel Ayo-loto and John Ogungefun
School: Obafemi Awolowo University
Teacher: Babajide Onabanjo
Country: Nigeria
The Americas: AQIP - Air Quality Index Pavilion
Students: Mina Onay and Richard Schutte
School: University of Toronto
Teacher: Jason Peter King
Country: Canada
Asia & Oceania: Light Therapy
Students: Qianqian Zhou, Gezi Li, Zhu Chen, Fengming Li, and Lurui Lyu
School: Beijing Jiatong University
Teacher: Yinan Zhou
Country: China
Eastern Europe & the Middle East: The Theater of Light
Students: Julia Giżewska, Dominik Kowalski, and Paweł Białas
School: Silesian University of Techonology
Teacher: Jerzy Wojewódka
Country: Poland
Western Europe: Words to Light – Lucioles [Fireflies]
Students: Xingyu Chen, Matteo, Giglio, Ghil Meynard, Noëlie Seguet-Pey, Nicolas Salha, Raphaël Pletinckx, Hiba Nasser, and Ghil Meynard
School: Université Catholique de Louvain
Teacher: Jean-Luc Capron
Country: Belgium
An honourable mention, category ‘Daylight in Buildings’
The jury granted a special prize in the category Daylight in Buildings for Asia and Oceania.
Honourable Mention: Melody of The Light Weaving
Students: Yeonginn Moon, Hagyung Seo, Rayoun Hwang, and Sungjoo Han
School: Hongik University
Teacher: Tony Woonghee Cho
Country: South Korea
The global winners of the International VELUX Award will be chosen from the regional winners at the World Architecture Festival.
About the VELUX Group
For more than 80 years, the VELUX Group has created better living environments for people around the world; making the most of daylight and fresh air through the roof. Our product programme includes roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. These products help to ensure a healthy and sustainable indoor climate, for work and learning, for play and pleasure. We work globally – with sales and manufacturing operations in more than 36 countries and around 11,000 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by non-profit, charitable foundations (THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS) and family. In 2022, the VELUX Group had total revenue of EUR 2.99 billion, VKR Holding had total revenue of EUR 4.29 billion, and THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS donated EUR 181 million in charitable grants.
For more information about VELUX Group, visit velux.com.