Introduction
Buildner is excited to announce the results of its second annual Home of Shadows international architecture ideas competition.
The competition series is designed to focus on the vital interplay between light and shadow in creating functional and inviting living spaces. It highlights the importance of natural light in home design, essential for creating comfortable, inviting, and practical environments.
Light is viewed as a language through which architects communicate emotions in their designs, with shadows playing an equally significant role in influencing the ambiance of a space. The balance between light and shadow allows for the creation of spaces with depth and texture, setting different moods for various purposes. Often, this balance can be achieved through the strategic placement of windows and doors.
For this edition, participants were tasked with designing a home for a hypothetical couple, adhering to one primary rule: no artificial light within the home. The jury sought designs that demonstrated how natural light could shape architectural decisions. Participants could select any theoretical site for their Home of Shadows and propose a fully functional building, incorporating essential amenities such as a kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom, and a small courtyard.
Buildner worked with a dynamic jury panel boasting a wide range of experiences and expertise: Sarah Broadstock is an architect at London-based Studio Bark; Ophélie Herranz is a Director of Nomos Architects in Madrid; Robert Hutchison is an American practitioner, researcher, and educator whose interests and practice overlap the fields of architecture, art and photography; Roxanne Kaye is a Principal at Cape Town-based SAOTA; Nikita Morell is a specialized copywriter for architects and Founder of Architects WordShop: an online shop dedicated to helping architects with their words; Andrew Maynard is Principal and Architect at Melbourne-based Austin Maynard Architects; Blake T. Smith is an architectural designer and educator based in Brooklyn, New York, where he works as an Associate and Senior Designer at BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group; Daniel Toole is Founder and Principal at Portland-based Daniel Toole Architecture; and Patcharada Inplang and Thongchai Chansamak are the founders of Chiangmai, Thailand-based Sher Maker.
Buildner and its jury panel extend their congratulations to the winning teams and thank all participants for submitting proposals.
We sincerely thank our jury panel
for their time and expertise
Ophélie Herranz
Director, Nomos Architects
Spain
Robert Hutchison
Robert Hutchison Architecture
United States
Roxanne Kaye
SAOTA
South Africa
Nikita Morell
Founder, Architects WordShop
Australia
Andrew Maynard
Principal and Architect, Austin Maynard Architects
Australia
Daniel Toole
Founder and Principal, Daniel Toole Architecture
United States
Blake T. Smith
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
United States
Patcharada Inplang
Sher Maker
Thailand
Thongchai Chansamak
Sher Maker
Thailand
Sarah Broadstock
Architect at Studio Bark
United Kingdom
1st Prize Winner
Dancing Flow
There are several reasons why participating in architecture competitions is valuable. First, architecture competitions provide a great opportunity to showcase creativity and test innovative ideas. They are appealing because they allow for experimenting with new design approaches and advancing innovative architectural techniques. Additionally, competitions serve as platforms to actualize projects and receive evaluations from experts. This feedback is essential for understanding how one's work would function in real-world environments and for making improvements. Lastly, architecture competitions offer networking opportunities. They connect participants with various professionals such as architects, designers, and interior decorators, providing opportunities for collaboration and enhancing professional expertise. Because of these reasons, architecture competitions are highly regarded and beneficial for architects and professionals in the field, which is why there is significant interest in participating in many competitions.
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South Korea
Jury feedback summary
"Dancing Flow" is located in Jinju, South Korea. Utilizing Jinju's abundant sunlight, the house features a linear open floor plan with varied walls and openings. The curved bedroom walls provide privacy while welcoming morning light, guiding the couple from the bedroom through shadowed dressing rooms to softly lit bathrooms. The courtyard, framed by polycarbonate walls, creates a restful ambiance with delicate, time-dependent lighting effects.
Partition height and proximity to enclosure are controlled to create a dynamic variety of light and darkness throughout the day. The undulating walls, disconnected at times from the roof, give the home a feeling of living inside a functional sculpture.
Blake T. Smith / Buildner guest jury
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, United States
"Dancing Flow" showcases strong architectural expression through its free-form internal arrangement, and its external walls visually complemented the design, adding a pragmatic touch. The beautifully rendered proposal demonstrates a genuine desire to create something outstanding. I would love to live in this house and feel this would be a deserving winner.
Sarah Broadstock / Buildner guest jury
Architect at Studio Bark, United Kingdom
Beautiful lines and interplay of light and shadow. I really like the name of the project and how it tells a story as well (i.e. "contains the emotions of the day.") Great consideration of the positioning of the sun and it's emotional impact on the space.
Nikita Morell / Buildner guest jury
Founder, Architects WordShop, Australia
The project demonstrates a poetic design intent by emphasizing the dynamic interaction of light and shadow through architectural elements, particularly in Jinju, South Korea, where the consistent sunlight is well-utilized. The innovative use of curved walls and the "lighting zone" concept showcases creativity and sustainability, optimizing natural light and energy efficiency. While the narrative is engaging and the design functional, clearer explanations of sustainable features would enhance the project's impact, making it a strong yet improvable submission.
Ophélie Herranz / Buildner guest jury
Director, Nomos Architects , Spain
A relatively pragmatic scheme that places curvilinear objects within a field. The presentation could have benefitted from a greater emphasis on how light and resulting shadows on the curved surfaces could change over the course of the day.
Robert Hutchison / Buildner guest jury
Robert Hutchison Architecture, United States
Here I liked the design's linear spatial arrangement and the contrast between its regular grid and rational elements alongside more organic forms. This approach allows for diverse spatial arrangements, not limited to only irregular organic layouts seen elsewhere. The overall arching form as a simple box is complemented by varying heights, and I can imagine the introduction of different finishes/textures and possibly a different organic "hand" to add playfulness and uniqueness. Clear distinction between intimate and exposed spaces enables users to engage with their surroundings without feeling too confined.
Roxanne Kaye / Buildner guest jury
SAOTA, South Africa
The layout is very beautiful, and the logic is clear. However, spaces such as the living room and kitchen are crammed in favor of overly generous circulation space. A few simple radii adjustments would solve those concerns.
Blake T. Smith / Buildner guest jury
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, United States
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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The project is defined by beautifully produced renderings and clear linework that is complex with details yet which communicate ideas simply and impactfully. The lengthy text would benefit from being divided into distinct themes for better readability. Unlike a news article, which presents information concisely, this submission reads more like a book, making it a bit harder and more complicated to navigate.
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9/10 Linework
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10/10 Quality of drawings
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9/10 Balance of color
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9/10 Layout
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9/10 Hierarchy
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6/10 Annotation
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6/10 Text
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8/10 Clarity of story
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9/10 Clarity of diagrams
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9/10 Quality of overall presentation
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2nd Prize Winner +
Buildner Student Award
Buildner Student Award
The Dance Of Shadows
As an architecture student, I believe that the design opportunities we encounter in school are limited. Architectural competitions, however, push me forward, helping me explore what design can be like under extreme conditions. Additionally, the impact of natural light on architecture is a theme I have always wanted to explore further.
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Jury feedback summary
"Dance of Shadows" harnesses natural light to shape the daily rhythms of its occupants. The design aligns spaces with the sun's path, creating dynamic, interconnected fragments that evolve with the changing light. Organized around a rounded courtyard, the home features an entrance illuminated from above, where shadows indicate the time of day. The artistic space captures the gentle morning light, fostering creativity.
The careful attention to light qualities throughout the day and the affect on the individual rooms is very sensitive, the form binds them all together elegantly.
Daniel Toole / Buildner guest jury
Founder and Principal, Daniel Toole Architecture, United States
This stood out for its incredibly strong architectural expression. I was looking for proposals which allowed the quality and path of light to shape the inhabitants' lifestyle. Additionally, I looked for designs that offered flexibility without compromising architectural integrity. This entry ticked all those boxes. The quality and warmth of the internal living spaces could have been developed further to ensure that this would be an enjoyable home to live in. The influence of Ryue Nishizawa was evident, and well adapted to the brief.
Sarah Broadstock / Buildner guest jury
Architect at Studio Bark, United Kingdom
Of the numerous entries that explore circular plans, this one seems to be the most promising. The scheme appears to be more about the quality of changing light on curved surfaces than the quality of shadows.
Robert Hutchison / Buildner guest jury
Robert Hutchison Architecture, United States
The singular spiral gesture is a beautiful and simple move that works in conjunction with the solar path to create a diversity of experience. Light and shadow are invited into the home in poetic and thoughtful manners based on program and orientation, clearly illustrated by the diagrams. The interior spaces as rendered are architecturally stunning. However, the plan feels a bit tight and unresolved.
Blake T. Smith / Buildner guest jury
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, United States
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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The project showcases excellent visuals and simple linework and diagrams, it remains highly conceptual and would benefit from additional details to express it as a constructable proposition. The absence of human figures detracts from understanding scale and spatial experience. The text would be clearer if reduced and more targeted to align directly with corresponding drawings and visuals.
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8/10 Linework
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9/10 Quality of drawings
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9/10 Balance of color
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9/10 Layout
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9/10 Hierarchy
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7/10 Annotation
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7/10 Text
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8/10 Clarity of story
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8/10 Clarity of diagrams
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9/10 Quality of overall presentation
3rd Prize Winner
Shamash - The Shade Of The Sun
We see architecture competitions as an opportunity to push the limits of our thinking and test our strengths in every aspect of working as a group.
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Jury feedback summary
I appreciate how this design incorporates microclimates and diverse viewpoints, seamlessly blending with its natural surroundings. It doesn't just prioritize internal facing views but actively engages with its environment, capturing various perspectives and embracing the changing natural light throughout the day. Within its private setting, it skillfully creates internalized views that enhance and extend the user's experience.
Roxanne Kaye / Buildner guest jury
SAOTA, South Africa
The project communicates a poetic design intent, emphasizing synchronization between the sun's path and the flow of life through concentric circles and a maze-like structure inspired by Mesopotamian architecture. The design's aesthetics and innovation are noteworthy, with a unique blend of historical and modern principles creating a visually striking interplay of light and shadow. While the project shows thoughtful consideration of form and context, clearer explanations of functionality, more site-specific details, and additional sustainable features would enhance its impact, making it a strong yet improvable submission.
Ophélie Herranz / Buildner guest jury
Director, Nomos Architects , Spain
It's good that the project has clear bright areas and dark areas. If the author made more contrast, it would be perfect.
Thongchai Chansamak / Buildner guest jury
Sher Maker, Thailand
I love the story behind this project. It fits beautifully into the surrounding environment.
Nikita Morell / Buildner guest jury
Founder, Architects WordShop, Australia
The oasis in the desert is a compelling site selection to experience the benefit of full access to the sun and sky, this particular circular scheme uses the changing source of light carefully.
Daniel Toole / Buildner guest jury
Founder and Principal, Daniel Toole Architecture, United States
This home allows maximum light by wrapping the courtyard around the exterior and orienting the openings outward. A perimeter wall frames the courtyard and creates privacy for all the open spaces. Rotated walls spanning from inside to out are a clever device serving to divide the spaces and disrupt the radial grid of the home. They are washed with light and shadow illuminating the interior while drawing one's eyes to the nature outside. The interior spaces are generously and rationally laid out with custom enhancements such as a very large and luxurious pool, bath and sunken living room.
Blake T. Smith / Buildner guest jury
BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, United States
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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The project design intent is clear and takes advantage of high-quality drawings to communicate the concept. While the hierarchy and variation of perspective/scale in the renderings is excellent, the use of so many renderings of similar quality is nonetheless rather repetetive. The author would benefit from more varied drawing types.
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8/10 Linework
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9/10 Quality of drawings
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9/10 Balance of color
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8/10 Layout
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8/10 Hierarchy
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6/10 Annotation
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7/10 Text
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8/10 Clarity of story
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9/10 Clarity of diagrams
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8/10 Quality of overall presentation
Buildner Sustainability Award
Komorebi House
What motivated us to participate in this competition was the proposal: connecting with light as a material of visibility and knowledge. Light-based design questions the design process, inverting the idea of habitat, intimacy, and protection, and challenging the choice of materials and the scope of the technical aspects of elements.
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Australia
Jury feedback summary
This project explores the coexistence of nature and humans by focusing on light as a structural element of visibility and comfort. It addresses challenges in environments with limited natural light, balancing natural habitat with the necessary protection and visibility for societal development. The design situates itself in complex terrain where light and habitat coexist in a metastable relationship, demanding a unifying approach.
The project excels across all criteria, demonstrating exceptional communication of design intent by clearly outlining the central role of light as an organizing principle. The site selection showcases a profound understanding of complex terrains, where light and habitat coexist in a sophisticated and contextually responsive manner.
Ophélie Herranz / Buildner guest jury
Director, Nomos Architects , Spain
A clever but simple layer design from a single-structure support with different filtered daylight across the whole day. The plan is also rooted in the surrounding nature and knowhow.
Patcharada Inplang / Buildner guest jury
Sher Maker, Thailand
The design is aesthetically visually striking and innovative, with the use of light as a structural element creating a groundbreaking and pleasing form. The project also shows a strong commitment to sustainability, addressing challenges of limited natural light and optimizing light distribution to reduce environmental impact.
Ophélie Herranz / Buildner guest jury
Director, Nomos Architects , Spain
Buildner's commentary, recommendations and techniques review
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Buildner has two primary suggestions for this submission. The first is related to the line drawings. It is recommended that the author test more varied use of line weights to provide hierarchy and balance to the section, plan and diagrammatic drawings. As submitted, these are all quite uniform and difficult to read, both at the scale of the page and when zoomed into a single drawing. The plan drawing in particular would benefit from darker 'cut' lines to more clearly describe the spaces.
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7/10 Linework
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7/10 Quality of drawings
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8/10 Balance of color
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8/10 Layout
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9/10 Hierarchy
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6/10 Annotation
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7/10 Text
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7/10 Clarity of story
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8/10 Clarity of diagrams
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7/10 Quality of overall presentation
Honorable mentions
Shortlisted projects
Light Trap
Barcelona House
Kibbutz Patio House
Komorebi House
Shamash - The Shade Of The Sun
Domus Umbrarum
Garden Retreat
Dancing Flow
Shadow In Shadow
Follow the Light
Introspection
Pursuing Light
KAJO-house
The Layer Home
FILM - house of moving shadows
HOUSE OF CURTAINS
ECHOES OF LIGHT
The Dance Of Shadows
Shadow Shelter
HOUSE FOR A CASTAWAY
Penombra
Contrast
The Canopies
Home of Shadows
SHIMMER
FOR READERS
The story of shadow box
House of Timber and Light
REVERSE CONE
Primary House
THE MISTY HOUSE
The home of light
SUNDIAL
EL PATIO
Καθαρσις , [catharsis]
Young Street House
Around the Atrium
Gardens Of Shadows
Komorebi Kaleidoscope House
The Diaphane House
"The shade of the sun" centers around a home designed to synchronize with the Sun's path, creating a rhythmic living experience akin to clockwork. The house features concentric circles that mimic a temple-like atmosphere, with strategically pierced openings in the walls to filter sunlight. Inspired by Mesopotamian maze-like structures, the circular floor plan captures varying spatial depths under a single roof. Read more To reach the central fire pit, symbolizing the hearth, one must traverse a path through water, which sustains both vegetation and residents. Emphasizing the interplay of light and shadow, each room is treated as an individual entity, resulting in diverse shadows that highlight the vitality of life within the enclosed oasis.