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UPA-BUA Union Professionnelle d'Architectes
Beroepsunie Van Architecten

International VELUX Award

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The International VELUX Award is a biennial competition for students of architecture. We challenge students from all over the world to work with daylight as an ever relevant source of light, life and joy.

“Light of Tomorrow” is the overall theme of the International VELUX Award. The award seeks to challenge the future of daylight in the built environment with an open-minded and experimental approach. Therefore, the award seeks to widen the boundaries of daylight in architecture, including aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and the interaction between buildings and environment.

Since the International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture was first launched in 2004, it has grown into what is probably the largest competition of its kind for the architects who will shape the buildings of our future. Since the first award, some 5,000 students from more than 80 countries have submitted more than 4,500 projects on the award theme “Light of Tomorrow”.

CATEGORIES

The award is open to any registered student of architecture – individual or team – all over the world. We encourage multi-disciplinary teams including e.g. engineering, design and landscaping. Every student or student team must be backed and granted submission by a teacher from a school of architecture and can chosse between 2 categories :

Daylight in buildings (Projects that demonstrate applicable principles for providing daylight and sunlight into buildings – including the effects of building construction and context of the site, shape and dimensions, window openings, screens, shadings, interior divisions, materials and external conditions)

Daylight investigations (Projects that look at the physical properties of light, basics of optics and materials, as well as technological developments, new materials, storage or transportation of daylight.)

The jury will select 5 regional laureates in each category, and in the second phase, prizes they will be presented to the of the World Architecture Festival à Amsterdam (Netherlands). The jury will select two global laureates, one in each category.

CRITERIA

The jury will evaluate the projects in accordance with the following criteria:

  • The work with daylighting as a premise for architecture
  • How the project is researched and documented
  • How the project addresses contemporary and future challenges
  • The level of experimentation and innovation
  • The overall graphic presentation of the project, how the project presents itself.

JURY

Names of the jury will be announced shortly.

SCHEDULE

  • September 2019     Registration opens
  • 1 April 2020     Registration closes; submission period opens
  • 1 April 2020     Deadline for questions
  • 15 June 2020     Submission deadline; project upload
  • 25-26 June 2020     Jury meeting – evaluation of all submitted projects
  • December 2020     Winners announcement at WAF2020 and online exhibition

For more information : https://iva.velux.com/