Laurencio’s work, Apartment #5, a Labyrinth and Repository of Spatial Memories, was based on memories of a recent trip to India and made use of distinct pencil drawings that were digitally composed. The piece, which also took home the Hybrid Category award, was described by judges Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell as “a labyrinth of drawings, each with its own story. Familiarity and mystery are conveyed with a sensitive, confident technique of great skill and precision. There is nothing loud or colourful, only a realm of acutely observed detail with a powerful muted presence. You can really imagine being here.”

Other winners of this year’s awards include:

Hand-drawn Category

Dear Hashima by architect/artist Marc Brousse

One of a series, Brousse’s piece is based on the ideas of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman and is intended to re-evaluate the relationship between humans and the city. Judge Louise Stewart, Curator of Exhibitions at Sir John Soane’s Museum, commented that “all the judges were very impressed by the incredibly individual drawing technique used here, which is technically impressive and visually highly effective.”

Digital Category

Re-Reading Metropolis by Chenglin Able of the University of California, Berkeley

Similarly, Able’s blueprint also seeks to put forward new concepts in urban design, while still drawing on iconic buildings from human history. Judge Lily Jencks, co-founder of LilyJencksStudio/JencksSquared observed that “layering drawing types-maps, plans, infrastructural systems and data entry, Re-Reading Metropolis suggests a fresh way to map an urban territory, both playful and precise.”

Lockdown Prize

Airplane Tower by Victor Hugo Azevedo and Cheryl Lu Xu of Robert A. M. Stern Architects 

Finally, to acknowledge the wider global context, WAF established a new category for the 2020 awards to recognize work based on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdown. The piece, which depicts a tower constructed out of disused airplanes, took out the first even Lockdown Prize, with judge Ken Shuttleworth, founder of Make Architects, commenting that “we were captivated by the Airplane Tower drawing’s immediacy, wit and use of multiple perspectives while addressing serious questions around the pandemic, interlinking the environment and reuse agenda with the housing crisis and the many challenges faced by the travel industry.” 

A joint curation of WAF, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Make Architects, the Architecture Drawing Prize is intended to further the use of new digital tools while still acknowledging the underlying utility of hand drawing. The judging panel was chaired by WAF Programme Director Paul Finch, who says that “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.”

Along with Finch, the panel was comprised of 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 and artist, Pablo Bronstein.

The winning pieces will feature at the WAF 2021 Lisbon, with the people behind them presenting their work on the Festival Hall stage, while commended works will be viewable through an interactive video screen. The final day will see the Overall Prize winner be presented with a trophy for their piece.

More information about this year’s prizes can be found at thedrawingprize.worldarchitecturefestival.com.