Finalists announced for The Architecture Drawing Prize 2020

Shortlisted entries for The Architecture Drawing Prize 2020 are announced today, covering three categories – Digital, Hand-drawn and Hybrid.

The judges were impressed by the outstanding quality and variety of entries into this year’s awards, the number of entries (165), countries represented (30) and the increase in entries from students and under-30 architects (35).

Commenting on the shortlist, World Architecture Festival Programme Director Paul Finch, who chaired the judging panel, said:

“Entries were up this year (39 extra), despite (or possibly because of) Covid-19 and lockdowns. The quality of entries was if anything higher than recent years and an encouraging sign of the ongoing interest in architectural drawing in various media. Many of the entries were eligible to be considered for a special ‘Lockdown Prize’, reflecting the changes to the built environment as a result of the pandemic.

“Judging was very encouraging, and we look forward to the exhibition of the shortlist at the Soane Museum in the New Year – and the announcement of the Lockdown Prize winner, category winners and the overall winner.”

Digital Category Shortlist:

“The digital entries engendered a very interesting debate this year; questioning the role of the seductive perspective for architectural communication, the capacity of digital tools to create infinite photo-realistic detail, or the potential of more easily including layering objective information. The shortlisted candidates show the breadth of digital tools used, and an excitement for different drawing languages used to render architectural ideas today.”

Lily Jencks, Cofounder, LilyJencksStudio, JencksSquared – 2020 Judge

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The Theatre of Fictions, A collaboration between Shahar Cohen & Jerram Rosen under Amaia Sanchez-Velasco for Hyperecologies III, University of Technology, Sydney
  • The Theatre of Fictions, A collaboration between Shahar Cohen & Jerram Rosen under Amaia Sanchez-Velasco for Hyperecologies III, University of Technology, Sydney
  • Here Everywhere: Orchard, Hans Villamayor
  • Re-Reading Metropolis, Chenglin Able, University of California, Berkeley
  • Fetching a Bucket of Steam, Jack Ingham, Newcastle University
  • Entombment of Fear / Nuclear free Japan (Perspective), Swee Yong, Formwerkz Architects

Hand-Drawn Shortlist

“The hand-drawn category was the largest and this reflects the continuing importance of this practice for architects. A pen or pencil can be a tool to aid creative thinking and architectural innovation and this was amply demonstrated by the entries we received.”

Louise Stewart, Curator of Exhibitions, Sir John Soane’s Museum – 2020 Judge

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Polymorphous Spatial Monosodium Glutamate, Matthew Poon UCL Bartlett X-25
  • Polymorphous Spatial Monosodium Glutamate, Matthew Poon, UCL Bartlett X-25
  • Construction as Heritage: A Case for Discrete Industry, Joshua Bristow, London Metropolitan University (Unit 8, MArch)
  • Dear Hashima, brousse marc, marc brousse

Hybrid Shortlist:

“This year, the hybrid category really demonstrated how effective the combination of different media can be in creating a compelling range of diverse and exceptionally evocative drawings.”

Ken Shuttleworth, Founder, Make Architects – 2020 Judge

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Mechanical Theatre of Smash Palace, Jono Yoo, The University of Auckland
  • Mechanical Theatre of Smash Palace, Jono Yoo, The University of Auckland
  • Airplane Tower, Victor Hugo Azevedo and Cheryl Lu Xu, Robert A. M. Stern Architects
  • Choate Colony Hall, Jeff Stikeman, Robert A.M. Stern Architects
  • Apartment #5, a Labyrinth and Repository of Spatial Memories, Clement Laurencio, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL

The Prize is curated by WAF, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Make Architects. It embraces the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing.

This year also saw the introduction of a special prize focused on the global lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ‘Lockdown Prize’ will be awarded to a drawing completed during lockdown or relating to the changes that Covid-19 will bring to architecture.

The winners of each category (digital, hybrid, hand-drawn), the ‘Lockdown Prize’ and the overall Architecture Drawing Prize 2020 winner will be revealed in January 2021.

The 2020 judges are: artists Ben Langlands & Nikki Bell; Gary Simmons, Main Board Director at William Hare Group; Ken Shuttleworth, Founder of Make Architects; Lily Jencks, Cofounder of LilyJencksStudio and JencksSquared; Louise Stewart, Curator of Exhibitions at Sir John Soane’s Museum; Narinder Sagoo, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners; artist, Pablo Bronstein and Paul Finch, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival.

The winners and commended works will go on display at a dedicated exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London in January – February 2021. At WAF 2021, the winners will be exhibited on the drawing prize stand and the commended drawings viewed via an interactive video screen. Each of the category winners will present their work on the Festival Hall stage. The overall winner will be presented with their trophy on the final day of the festival.

View the shortlist here.

To learn more about this year’s Architecture Drawing Prize please visit: thedrawingprize.worldarchitecturefestival.com

Image at top: Entombment of Fear / Nuclear free Japan (Perspective), Swee Yong, Formwerkz Architects – Digital Finalist

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