In partnership with Make Architects and Sir John Soane’s Museum, World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced the call for entries for the fifth edition of The Architecture Drawing Prize, sponsored by Gleeds. Launched in 2017, the Prize was established to celebrate and showcase the art and skill of architectural drawing.

In the spirit of work by great architects of the past, from Palladio and John Soane to Le Corbusier and Cedric Price, The Architecture Drawing Prize is a platform for reflecting on and exploring how drawing continues to advance the art of architecture today. It embraces the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing.

The organisers invite entries of all types and forms – from conceptual to technical or construction drawings, cutaways or perspective views – and anything in between.

Entries are welcomed from architects, designers and especially students from around the world in the following categories: Hand-drawn, Digital, and Hybrid (combining the two). Submissions across the three categories will be evaluated on the basis of their technical skill, originality of approach and ability to convey an architectural idea. Drawings can be entirely speculative or relate to real projects.

For the second year running, there will also be a special prize focused on the global lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, chosen from all the entries. The Lockdown Prize will be focused on a drawing completed during lockdown or a drawing relating to the changes that Covid-19 will bring to architecture.

Digital Category Winner 2020 – Re-Reading Metropolis, Chenglin Able, University of California, Berkeley

This year’s judges are artists Ben Langlands & Nikki Bell; Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make Architects; Lily Jencks, founder of LilyJencksStudio and JencksSquared; Louise Stewart, curator at Sir John Soane's Museum; Narinder Sagoo, senior partner at Foster + Partners; artist Pablo Bronstein; Robin Brodie Cooper, Equity Partner at Gleeds, and Paul Finch, programme director of the World Architecture Festival.

"The universal language of drawing has a special significance in current circumstances and we look forward to celebrating excellence once again," Paul Finch.

The entry deadline for submissions is 1 October 2021. 

The winners and shortlist will be decided in October, and displayed at World Architecture Festival in Lisbon from 1 to 3 December. Winners will receive complimentary tickets to the event, which will include a panel discussion featuring some of the award judges. A selection of winning and other entries will be the subject of an exhibition at the Soane Museum in early 2022.

More than 80 percent of the shortlisted entries for 2020 were submitted by entrants who are students or under the age of 30. This year, the organisers will hold the 2020 entry prices with a standard submission costing £198 and a reduced rate of £24 for all entries by students and under-30s. 

There is also a multiple entry discount offered when submitting three or more projects. Entrants should use the code STANDARDMULTI10 or STUDENTMULTI10 at the checkout to save 10%.

Lockdown Prize Winner 2020 – Airplane Tower by Victor Hugo Azevedo and Cheryl Lu Xu, Robert A. M. Stern Architects

The overall winner of the 2020 Prize was "Apartment #5, a Labyrinth and Repository of Spatial Memories", by Clement Laurencio, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.

For full details on how to enter the Architecture Drawing Prize visit: https://thedrawingprize.worldarchitecturefestival.com.

Top image: Overall and Hybrid Winner 2020_Apartment #5, a Labyrinth and Repository of Spatial Memories by Clement Laurencio, Bartlett School of Architecture, ICL.

> via WAF