The 2020 Architecture Drawing Prize

In partnership with Make Architects and Sir John Soane’s Museum, the World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the call for entries for the fourth edition of  The Architecture Drawing Prize. Launched in 2017, the prize is conceived to celebrate and showcase the art and skill of architectural drawing. 

In the spirit of many great architects of the past, from Palladio and John Soane to Le Corbusier and Cedric Price, The Architecture Drawing Prize is an ideal platform for reflecting on and exploring how drawing continues to advance the art of architecture today. It embraces the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing. The organisers invite entries of all types and forms: from technical or construction drawings to cutaway or perspective views – and anything in between.

Entries are welcomed by architects, designers and especially students from around the world in the following categories: hand-drawn, digital, and hybrid, combining the two. This year also sees the introduction of a special prize focused on the global lockdown during the Covid-19  pandemic which will be open to all entrants for one of the above categories. The lockdown prize will be focused on a drawing completed during lockdown or a drawing relating to the changes that Covid-19 will bring to architecture. Submissions across the three categories will be evaluated on the basis of their technical skill, originality in approach and ability to convey an architectural idea. Drawings can be entirely speculative or relate to real projects. 

This year’s judges are Artists Ben Langlands & Nikki Bell; Gary Simmons, main board director at William Hare Group; Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make Architects; Lily Jencks, founder of LilyJencksStudio and JencksSquared; Louise Stewart, curator at Sir John Soane's Museum; Narinder Sagoo, senior partner at Foster + Partners; Artist, Pablo Bronstein and Paul Finch, programme director of the World Architecture Festival. 

The entry deadline for all submissions is 2nd October 2020. The winners and shortlist will be decided in late October, and then go on display at a dedicated exhibition at the Sir John Soane's Museum in London until February 2021. The category winners will each receive a delegate pass to the World Architecture Festival in Lisbon, 2-4 December 2020 and will be invited to participate in an event on the Festival Stage.