The International VELUX Award 2022 announces two Global winners

 The VELUX Group is proud to announce that the projects ‘TIP: Time Indicate Protection’ by Zuzanna Sazonow and Aleksandra Pytka, and ‘FLight’ by Sajjad Navidi, Mahya Mousavi Sadr and Elham Bahadori have been selected as the global winners of the International VELUX Award 2022 for Students of Architecture.

The jury of internationally acclaimed architects including John Ronan, Anupama Kundoo, Rainer Hofmann and Fuensanta Nieto selected two global winners following live presentations by 9 regional winners at The World Architecture Festival in Lisbon on 02 December. The 10 finalists from 9 different countries around the globe were chosen among 507 daylight projects, submitted by students from 211 schools of architecture in 63 countries.

Since the regional winners of the competition were announced in July 2022 the students have been awaiting the chance to present their projects to the jury in the final round of the competition. Finally, the jury saw the live presentations and had a chance to ask questions to the teams. Based on the presentations the following projects were selected as the global winners.

Global winner category Daylight in Buildings: TIP: Time Indicate Protection

Student:  Zuzanna Sazonow and Aleksandra Pytka
School: Politechnika Poznańska
Teacher: Patrycja Kamińska
Country: Poland
Region: Eastern Europe & Middle East

The project proposes a modular shading system for the adaptation of multi-family residential buildings to answer to constantly changing climate conditions and new post-pandemic lifestyles. The structure has been designed in such a way as to protect the interior from overheating, but at the same time allow natural daylight to enter.

What the jury really liked about this modular shading system is that it’s transforming a facade of an existing building into a more beautiful solution. 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.

The jury were impressed by the potential for far-reaching applicability of the project and the way in which it sets out to improve issues in current buildings.

We thought it was a very direct, straightforward solution that can be applied not to only one to one single country or building but to the whole world to deal with the restoration of buildings. With this project, buildings can be changed and modified for the better. You see all the elements that architecture is about: sustainability, natural light, materiality, and really transforming the image of the building and the city for the better. – says jury member Fuensanta Nieto

I think there’s so much dreaming about the future and all, but we also need attend to our buildings of the past. So, we really appreciated the project and the solution – says jury member Anupama Kundoo.

Global winner category Daylight Investigations:  FLight

Students: Sajjad Navidi, Mahya Mousavi Sadr, Elham Bahadori
School: University of Art, Tehran
Teacher: Rima Fayaz and Maryam Fakhari
Country: Iran
Region: Eastern Europe & Middle East

The project responds to issues of displacement and war, specifically in the spatial context of refugee camps. Taking children as the focus, the project that 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.

The jury was drawn to the project due to its simplicity but also the way the project approached a dreadful problem in a poetic and joyful way.

The jury was really impressed with the economy of means, the depth to which the project was studied and taught and tested and basically its viability. It seems like it would be a very inexpensive thing to produce and would change a lot of lives – says John Ronan, chairman of jury

Flight proposed a very simple device for widespread application, to uplift and bring fun and joy and play into the lives of children, particularly children growing up in post-war situations. We really appreciate the humble, simple project, but also that is very practical and fun.

– Says Anupama Kundoo, jury member

The winners in categories Daylight in Buildings and Daylight Investigations will receive the prize of 5,000 €; 4,000 € to the student(s) and 1,000 € to the teacher(s). 

Explore the Global winning projects here

About the International VELUX Award

The International VELUX Award is a competition for students of architecture that runs every second year. Since the launch in 2004, it has grown into the largest competition of its kind with students from 800 schools, from 130 countries of all continents, submitting more than 6,000 projects on the award theme “Light of Tomorrow”.

International VELUX Award 2022 is organised in close collaboration with the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the World Architecture Festival (WAF), and is acknowledged by the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE).

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