A Melbourne submission has been selected as the overall winner of the Architectural Drawing Prize by the World Architecture Festival (WAF).
The Architecture Drawing prize was established in 2017 to celebrate the art and skill of architectural drawing, awarding prizes in three categories: hand-drawn, hybrid and digital.
“Fitzroy Food Institute”, by Samuel Wen and Michael Ren, won the hybrid category in 2022, detailing a dumpling “institute” that “deviates from the traditional orientalist attitude towards Chinese culture, while also examining ideas of globalisation and automation,” the statement read.
Wen and Ren’s submission was described as “full of architectural interest” by the jury.
Wen is a University of Melbourne Master of Architecture graduate and a student architect at Cox Architecture. Ren is a designer and educator, currently enrolled in the Master of Architecture at UC Berkeley.
“We feel honoured and beyond grateful that our work has received such recognition,” said Wen. “This project meant a lot to us because the broader intention of the drawing was to use architecture to challenge traditional oriental stereotypes about our Chinese heritage.”
Ren added that while collaboration under remote settings had proved challenging, the duo identified their individual strengths to share authorship of the project.
Founder of Make Architects and prize judge Ken Shuttleworth said the submission was a worthy winner for its subtle use of colour, its accessibility in message, and its delightful detail.
The pair developed their project in a Master of Architecture studio at the Melbourne School of Design. They also received the Narrative Award in the 2021 Archisource Drawing of the Year competition.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
