A ‘genuinely delightful’ reflection on food, globalization, and automation wins 2022 Architecture Drawing Prize

Fitzroy Food Institute by Samuel Wen and Michael Ren has been named the overall winner of the 2022 Architecture Drawing Prize. Awarded by the World Architecture Festival, Make Architects, and Sir John Soane’s Museum, the winning drawing was selected from the three winners of the prize’s main categories: hand-drawn, hybrid, and digital.

The winner of the hybrid category, Fitzroy Food Institute depicts a dumpling institute that deviates from traditional views of Chinese culture, while also examining ideas of globalization and automation. To create the drawing, the authors blended a range of media including a plan, two sections, two elevations, four views, six diagrams, one detail, and two call-outs. The drawings are imaginatively arranged in a top-down view of a typical Chinese roundtable dining experience.

“We feel honored and beyond grateful that our work has received such recognition,” said co-author Samuel Wen. “Being able to convey such ideas and a captivating narrative through drawing had been the aim from the beginning. This project meant a lot to us because the broader intention of the drawing was to use architecture to challenge traditional oriental stereotypes about our Chinese heritage.”

The drawing was chosen as the overall winner of the 2022 edition by a jury consisting of artists Nikki Bell and Ben Langlands, Sir John Soane’s Museum director Bruce Boucher, artist Pablo Bronstein, WAF director Paul Finch, Jencks Squared co-founder Lily Jencks, Iris Ceramica Group CEO Federica Minozzi, Foster + Partners senior partner Narinder Sagoo, and Make Architects founder Ken Shuttleworth. Reflecting on the decision, Shuttleworth praised the drawing as one that “stands out for its well-considered and subtle use of color,” as well as being “conceptually original and genuinely delightful.”

“Collaboration under a remote academic setting proved to be a challenge,” added co-author Michael Ren. “However, we were able to work through this project by identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, Samuel has always been passionate about hand-drawn illustrations whereas I have an aptitude for digital renderings. Incorporating both methods of representation acknowledge a post-digital era in architectural visualization.”

The Architecture Drawing Prize Exhibition will run at Sir John Soane’s Museum through May 7th. More information on the prize can be found by reading our full review of the 2022 World Architecture Festival here.