International VELUX Award (IVA) 2026

VELUX tarafından başlatılan “Yarının Işığı” (Light of Tomorrow) konulu uluslararası öğrenci yarışmasına 30 Mart 2026 tarihine kadar başvuru yapılabiliyor.

General Information

LIGHT OF TOMORROW by VELUX is an international, single stage, open ideas competition for students of architecture, which runs every second year since 2004. Over these two decades, close to 7,000 projects have been created and submitted for the award by teams or individuals from around 800 universities and schools of architecture from all over the world. All the projects are related to daylight; either in specific buildings and built environments or in pure investigations and experimentation.

Under its motto “Light of Tomorrow”, the competition wants to encourage and challenge students and their teachers all over the World to explore the theme of daylight in the widest perspectives and understanding of the subject.

To ensure participation by students from all World regions, the competition will reward a prize for the best project, submitted from each of the UIA (International Union of Architects) regions: Africa, Americas, Asia and Oceania, Eastern Europe and Middle East and Western Europe.

Additionally, there will be special prizes for the best submitted project within three specific categories: ‘Natural light in new buildings’, ‘Daylight in Transformations’, and ‘Daylight Investigations’.

All students selected as regional winners and special prize winners of the competition are invited to present their projects to the jury at a workshop, held prior to the award ceremony during the UIA World Congress in Barcelona from 28 June to 2 July 2026. As a result of the presentations, the jury will honour the project that, overall, has demonstrated and presented the most convincing idea with a global award.

UIA (International Union of Architects) Approval and Endorsement

This ideas competition for students of architecture is organised and conducted in accordance with UNESCO Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town planning and the UIA best practice recommendations (see UIA Competition Guide for Design Competitions in Architecture and Related Fields) and has been reviewed by the International Competitions Consultancy Board (ICC).

The competition

LIGHT OF TOMORROW by VELUX, 2026, wants to encourage and challenge students of architecture and their teachers to explore the theme of daylight – and to facilitate a deeper understanding of this specific and ever-relevant source of energy, light and life. The competition celebrates and promotes excellence in completed study works. These works can be made as works complying with the prize scope of rethinking the values of conscious daylighting design with focus on people’s health in living and working environments.

The competition encourages projects that celebrate the privilege of being a student; with curiosity and with the willingness to think “out of the box” – as well as by considering the social, sociological, and environmental dimension of light. The competition encourages specific focus on the existing built environment by looking at: how to recycle, adapt, upgrade or reuse buildings by considering daylighting as a driver for lower energy demand consumption and better indoor comfort.

The competition wants to acknowledge not only the students but their teachers as well. Therefore, teachers or tutors that support the projects are also rewarded.

Registration, questions and submission of entries

Competitors must use the Light of Tomorrow by VELUX platform to register, ask questions and submit their entries, according to the related deadlines.

Key dates

Launch: 01 September 2025

Deadline for registration: 30 March 2026

Deadline for submission of entries: 06 April 2026

Jury meeting: 27-28 April 2026

Result announcement: May 2026

Winner’s workshop and Awards Ceremony: 26 June – 2 July 2026

Online exhibition of all submitted projects: August 2026

Submission requirements (project guidelines)

The proposal must be comprehensively presented in one image file, which depicts the project and includes a written description that explains the idea and details.

For specific sizing and formats, please refer to the submission requirements in number 14 in part 2 ‘regulations’.

Jury members

The entries will be evaluated by an international jury:

• Níall McLaughlin (Ireland)
• Liene Jākobsone (Latvia)
• James Carpenter (USA)
• Oya Atalay Franck (Switzerland) – UIA representative
• Elena Arregui Jaeger (Spain) – VELUX Representative

Alternate juror:

• Doris Wälchli (Switzerland) – UIA representative

Competition Prizes and Prize money

The total prize money available for the competition is € 28.000 – split between a total of 8 prizes. Prizes are not subject to VAT.

There will be a total of 8 prizes: 5 regional prizes and 3 special prizes

Five prizes for best * regional projects: € 3.000 and a certificate for the student team and €500 for the teacher/professor

* UIA regions: Americas, Asia and Oceania, Africa, Western Europe and Eastern Europe and Middle East

1 prize for the best project demonstrating `Natural light in new buildings´: € 3.000 and a certificate for the student team and € 500 for the teacher/professor

Projects that articulate a qualified and conscious work with daylighting in new buildings including focus on the effects of building construction and context of the site, shape and dimensions, window openings, screens, shadings, interior divisions, materials and external conditions. It can be a specific focus on architecture for health and well-being.

1 prize for the best project demonstrating `Daylight in building transformation´: € 3.000 and a certificate for the student team and € 500 for the teacher/professor

Projects that focus specifically on the opportunities and challenges offered by daylight in the retrofit of existing buildings and city structures. Including focus on adaptive re-use, while conserving resources and historic value and by considering people’s health and wellbeing, politics and economy.

1 prize for the best project demonstrating `Daylight investigations´: € 3.000 and a certificate for the student team and € 500 for the teacher/professor

Projects where daylight is present as a significant and thoroughly studied element. Either with focus on the physical properties of light, the basics of optics and materials, or technological developments, or daylight for functional, recreational, cultural or spiritual use, or the effect of daylight on state of mind, health and well-being.

The Global Award and Award money

The 8 prize winners will be invited to the award event and workshop with the jury at the UIA Congress in Barcelona, June-July 2026, where they will also present their projects to the jury, to compete for the 1 global award.

As a result of the presentations, the jury will honour the project that, overall, has demonstrated and presented the most convincing idea – with € 4.000 Award and Certificate for the students and € 1.000 for the teacher/professor. The award money is not subject to VAT.

Travel and accommodation will be arranged and paid for by the organizer with a maximum of 2 students representing each project. Teachers’ travel and accommodation will not be covered.

The prize/award money will be paid in full to the team leader within 30 days of announcement of the prize/award, with the total prize/award money paid in full to the team leader.