World Architecture Festival announces winners of The Architecture Drawing Prize 2019

The overall winner of the third annual Architecture Drawing Prize is Anton Markus Pasing with his work entitled ‘City in a box: paradox memories’.

Working in the fields of experimental architecture, prototype design and fine arts, German architect Anton Markus Pasing has been awarded the prize for best digital drawing as well as being crowned the overall winner of The Architecture Drawing Prize. ‘City in a box: paradox memories’ represents an unknown city full of stories, closed in a large box. Until the box is opened, the city is in an ‘intermediate state’, it is both real and non-existent at the same time. The artist added: “I prefer the digital method for creating my work, because it allows me to achieve complex representations as well as being able to illustrate narrative aspects more clearly. I don’t aim to generate answers with my images, but to use them to ask questions or tell simple stories.”

Narinder Sagoo, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners and one of the judges of the prize commented that, “I thought the level of depth, the confidence in composition, the pure symmetry and strong perspective really emphasised the simplicity of the notion of the box. You want to look at the drawing for days on end.” Manuelle Gautrand, fellow judge and founder of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture added that the judges “were always searching for a bold mix between concept and emotion in a drawing. It is also important to balance digital and handmade with sensitivity, to give a sort of poetry to it. A drawing can really have the ability to take you on a beautiful and unexpected fictional trip.”

The prize, which will be awarded at the annual World Architecture Festival (WAF), held this year in Amsterdam, is curated by WAF, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Make Architects and sponsored by Hare. It embraces the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing.

Gary Simmons, Chief Engineer at William Hare commented that “The Group are honoured to be sponsoring The Architecture Drawing Prize, celebrating the important art and skill of architectural drawing.”

This year The Architecture Drawing Prize saw a total of 126 entries representing 23 countries, showing the truly international nature of the prize. The majority of the entrants were architects (24%) and students (20%).
 
The judges chose winners across three categories: hand-drawing, hybrid and digital, with the overall winner chosen from the winners of the individual categories. The other two category winners are Jerome Xin Hao Ng, student at The Bartlett School of Architecture in London for ‘Metabolist of a Dementia Nation’ in the hybrid category and Anna Heringer of German architectural practice Studio Anna Heringer in the hand-drawn category for ‘Masterplan Rudrapur, Bangladesh’.

Jerome Xin Hao Ng, ‘Metabolist of a Dementia Nation’, the winner of the Hybrid category

Jerome Xin Hao Ng’s drawing shows an alternative vision for Singapore’s Golden Mile Complex, a landmark residential block and important icon of 1970s Metabolism facing potential demolition. In this vision the building is saved, preserving Singapore’s threatened urban infrastructure; allowing new and existing residents to forge new memories, whilst giving space for the past to breathe.
 
Ken Shuttleworth, Founder of Make and judge of the 2019 Architecture Drawing Prize commented that, “A previous overall winner of The Architecture Drawing Prize, Jerome Ng also impressed this year’s judges with his extraordinary ability to introduce life, detail and observational  skills to his work as well as joy and an exceptional eye for colour.  A very deserving winner of the hybrid category once more.”

Anna Heringer, ‘Masterplan Rudrapur, Bangladesh’, winner of the Hand-drawn category

Anna Heringer’s work shows the masterplan of Rudrapur, Bangladesh embroidered over an upcycled sari blanket representing the high level of sustainability in the area; ponds bamboo is the main material for housebuilding and people use their gardens for food production. Highlighting this approach, the women of Rudrapur stitched together vernacular and modern mud-bamboo structures to prove that quality of life is based on creativity and elevating the existing, not on material consumption.
 
Owen Hopkins, Senior Curator of Exhibitions and Education at Sir John Soane's Museum and judge said that “Anna Heringer’s entry shows that drawing itself is a very malleable thing. It shows drawing doesn’t have to be pen or pencil on paper. It can be any form of line-making. Drawing can be a wholly collaborative act. Heringer’s winning entry embodies the real possibilities drawing has for collaboration and engagement.”
 
The judging panel for this year included artists Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell from Langlands and Bell; Ken Shuttleworth, Founder of Make Architects; Narinder Sagoo, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners; Paul Finch, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival; Owen Hopkins, Senior Curator of Exhibitions and Education at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London; Manuelle Gautrand, Founder of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture; Christian Schittich, writer, consultant and architect and Gary Simmons, Main Board Director at William Hare Group.
 
The winners and commended works will go on display at a dedicated exhibition at the Sir John Soane's Museum in London between Wednesday, 15th January and Sunday, 16 February 2020. At WAF, in December, 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 on Thursday 5th December 2019.  The overall winner will be presented with their trophy at the Gala Dinner on Friday 6th December 2019.
 
Commenting on this year’s competition, Paul Finch, the Programme Director of WAF said: ‘The judges were hugely enthusiastic about the quality of drawings this year. The 12 commended and the category winners are all first-class examples of both traditional and digital skills, this made choosing the overall winner a hard task. The geographical spread of entries was very encouraging, as was the significant proportion of younger architects and students taking part. We look forward to exhibiting the 15 best entries  in Amsterdam at this year’s world Architecture Festival in December, and at Sir John Soane Museum between 15^th January and 16^th February.’
 
Please find high-resolution images and information about the winning and commended drawings here.
 

To find out more about this year’s Architectural Drawing Prize please visit: https://thedrawingprize.worldarchitecturefestival.com/