Winners of Buildner's latest Architectural Visualization Award showcase the possibilities of visual storytelling

Buildner has announced the winners of the 2023 Architect's Sugar Architectural Visualization Award competition. Now in its second year, the challenge called for participants to "communicate their ideas solely through visuals, without any text." As part of Buildner's silent competition series, "visualization can portray anything architecturally related and can be previously published work, as long as they hold all the copyrights."

This year's jury selected three projects that represented the best execution of technical design skills, visual world-building, and creating narratives. The three selected winners will receive a cash prize of 3,000 € (First Prize), 1,500 € (Second Prize), and 500 € (Third Prize). Winners and honorable mentions below are comprised of students and design professionals.

First Prize: The Imaginary Variance: Collective Memories and Urban Reconstruction
By Meshal Alradadi and Halie Kim of Pratt Institute (USA)

Jury comments: "A representation of a dense urban center, this line drawing is a mixture of drawing and diagram, skin and organs, an image with an electrifying level of detail and an excellent balance of dynamic colors. The axonometric unveils mechanical systems and circulation strategies overlaid on a range of space types. It includes many human figures to provide scale, conveying a radical spatial experience. By undressing the buildings, the image forces the viewer to think about one’s own built surroundings and their many layers." Read more here.

Second Prize: Not up to Code
By Nithya Ranasinghe (Australia)

Jury Comments: "A scene from an apparent urban rooftop, the drawing represents an evening moment where multiple people are interacting with the architecture and the milieu of objects that can be considered human detritus or more simply human urban life. The drawing (a painting? a pencil drawing?) recalls a Paige Jiyoung Moon image, conveying a fantastic level of detail and an ultra-keen sense of perspective and depth. The author uses zones of extreme light to create balance and unveil the many colors of the setting." Read more here.

Third Prize: Is-Home-Land
By Yulun Liu and Dongqi Chen (USA)

Jury Comments: "This visualization of an evening scene hints at clear devastation, following some form of inundation. The former home, at center, is still lit though weakly connected to a power source, and accompanied by an arriving or exiting visitor pulling a partially inflated boat. The image is haunting, yet the existence of light also provides some level of hope. Given the daily climate catastrophes the world is witnessing, this visualization is topical - perhaps a recording of a scene, and certainly a warning." Read more here.

Honorable Mentions (Explore more project information here)

• Arctic uthopia by Danjana Elez (Serbia)
• Temporal Fissure by José Luis Pérez Hermo (Spain)
• The future is Guarani by Matheus Rudo Oliveira from the University of Brasília (Brazil)
• Zen Oasis: Lake Resort by Zhuofan Ma from Princeton University (USA)
• Desolation by Cason Micallef and Liam Fujita of Toronto Metropolitan University (Canada)
• Decolonizing syncretism in the Caribbean by Brian Torres Negrón (Puerto Rico)

The competition's jury consisted of a group of international designers, educators, and practitioners such as Ricardo Gomes (KWY.studio), Andrea Hansen-Phillips (Datum Digital Studio), Lydia Kallipoliti (ANAcycle thinktank), Karel Kelin (Ryu Klein), Michael Meredith (MOS), and Stephen Pimbley (SPARK Architects).