Billed as the only global award that celebrates daylight in architectural education, the International VELUX Award for Students in Architecture returns for 2018, with registrations now being accepted. The VELUX Award challenges students of architecture all over the world to push the boundaries of daylight in architecture — looking at aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, and the interaction between buildings and the environment.
According to VELUX, daylighting — describing the controlled use of light in and around buildings — “should be considered the most important ‘building material,’ and the starting point for any design.” For the award organizers, the” hope is that schools of architecture all over the world, consider The International VELUX award as an opportunity to integrate the theme of daylight in the curriculum during the fall term and stimulate architecture students’ awareness and understanding of this ever-relevant source of energy, light and life by encouraging and supporting their daylight projects.”
Projects can be submitted in two categories:
Global student winners will be awarded with prizes of up to CA $6,000, with smaller regional prizes of $1,800 also offered. Alongside the student prize money, affiliated professors will also receive cash prizes. As part of the award, winners will be invited to present to the jury in Europe, with a widely circulated printed publication also acknowledging winning students and faculty.
The award is organized in close cooperation with the International Union of Architects (UIA), and since the first International VELUX Award was presented in in 2004, some 4,500 student project submissions — representing 350 schools and 80 countries — have been received.
Registration will remain open until April 2018, with the finalized anonymous submissions accepted in May and June of next year, and prizes will be presented in October. A full awards brief is available via the official VELUX website, linked here. General information and team registration is also provided here, with a first look at next year’s jury now online!
Over the ten years since the award was first launched, winners have been presented from: Norway, Denmark, China, Bulgaria, South Korea, Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, USA, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and Croatia, as well as honourable mentions from: Poland, Germany, Norway, Hungary, Spain, United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Sweden, France, South Korea, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Lithuania, China, Switzerland, Romania, Belgium, Portugal and Bulgaria.
The Award is arranged in close collaboration with the International Union of Architects (UIA) and acknowledged by the following educational organizations: The European Association for Architectural Education, The American Institute of Architecture Students, the Architectural Research Centers Consortium, and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.