Winners revealed for 2022 International VELUX Awards exploring innovation in daylight

The winners have been announced for the 2022 International VELUX Award. The biennial student competition, endorsed by the International Union of Architects (UIA) since 2004, invited participants to explore daylight through two categories: Daylight in Buildings and Daylight Investigations.

“The award seeks to challenge the future of daylight in the built environment with an open-minded and experimental approach,” the organizers say. “Therefore, the award seeks to widen the boundaries of daylight in architecture, including aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and the interaction between buildings and environment.”

The 2022 edition attracted 507 projects submitted from 211 schools of architecture in 63 countries. In addition to one winner being chosen within each category, the awards also honored eight additional entries as regional winners.

GLOBAL WINNERS

Daylight in Buildings Category: TIP – Time Indicate Protection by Zuzanna Sazonow and Aleksanra Pytka (Politechnika Poznańska, Poland)

The jury praised the scheme for its deployment of a modular sharing system to “transforming a facade of an existing building into a more beautiful solution,” adding: “The combination of aesthetics and technical elements was appreciated while at the same time addressing the very prominent problems of avoiding glare and heat in buildings in the city.”

Daylight Investigations Category: Flight by Sajjad Navadi, Mahya Mousavi Sadr, and Elham Bahadori (University of Art Tehran, Iran)

The jury praised the scheme for its approach to the tragic topic of war with a poetic and joyful response. “The project responds to issues of displacement and war, specifically in the spatial context of refugee camps,” the jury noted. “Taking children as the focus, the project operates as both an outdoor game and a source of light. This simple but effective device provides both a sense of safety and security as well as much needed joy in a difficult situation.”

REGIONAL WINNERS

24-Hour Daylight: A Pavilion that Reconnects the City with Light by Adrian Paocarima Herrera, Melissa Anabelle Ulcuango Merino, and Kevin Daniel Arroyo Males (Universidad Central Del Ecuador, Ecuador)

Aqua Mart by Elmarie Van Staden (Greenside Design Center, College of Design, South Africa)

Lighting Up, Neighborhood Hop by Feng Meiyin, Feng Yijun, and Zhang Jinru (Beijing Jiaotong University, China)

Limitless Daylighting by Ishimwe Munyandekwe Augustin (University of Rwanda College of Science and Technology, Rwanda)

Martian Light by Gray Burke (University of Miami, USA)

Solar Hymnal by Jaan Gröndahl (Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland)

Spotlight Tree: Self-Regulating System in Desert Environment by Zhao Liuxin, Liu Wanchen, Xin Guanbai, and Dong Zhenbin (The University of Sheffield, UK)

Under the Three Gorges Project: A Light Ceremony Complished by River Lanterns Underwater by Yawen Qiao, Deng Teng, Haoyu Zhang, and Shuyang Yan (Southwest Jiaotong University, China)