Light of Tomorrow by Velux
Dezeen Competitions: Velux’s Light of Tomorrow competition seeks student submissions that explore the innovative use of light in architecture.
The competition encourages students to experiment with how daylight can be used in design, whilst also considering light’s “social, sociological and environmental dimensions”.
This competition is now closed
Organiser: Velux
Competition: Light of Tomorrow
Judges: yet to be announced
Registration deadline: 30 March 2026
Winner announcement: 6 April 2026
Prizes: the total prize money available is €33,000, which will be split between eight prizes. This includes five regional prizes, plus three special prizes and one global award
Competition overview
Light of Tomorrow by Velux is a global ideas competition and award, seeking submissions that explore the use of light in architecture.
It aims to encourage and challenge architecture students to explore daylight, and create a deeper understanding of this specific and ever-relevant source of energy, light and life.
The competition seeks ‘out of the box’ submissions. It encourages students to explore the theme of daylight in the widest perspectives whilst considering the social, sociological and environmental dimensions of light.
The competition is not restricted to the use of Velux products. Innovative thinking and use of specific Velux components as daylight providers can be used.
Velux’s initiative also acknowledges teachers as well. Teachers of student projects also receive prize money and recognition.
In the competition phase, five regional prizes will be awarded to the best projects from the UIA member regions, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Oceania and Africa.
There will also be three special prizes, including the natural light in new buildings prize, the daylight in transformations prize, and daylight investigations prize.
One of these eight winners will be awarded as a global winner.
Eligibility and judging criteria
The competition and award is open to any registered student of architecture from all over the world.
It encourages multi-disciplinary teams, including engineering, design and landscaping students. Every student or student team must be backed and granted submission by a teacher from a school of architecture.
The initiative welcomes projects from individuals or groups of students enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s course at a named university or school of architecture during the academic year 2025/26.
PhD students and Velux employees cannot participate.
The jury will evaluate the projects in accordance with the following criteria:
- The work with daylighting as a premise for architecture
- How the project is researched and documented
- How the project addresses contemporary and future challenges
- The level of experimentation and innovation
- The overall graphic presentation of the project – how the project presents itself
How to enter
To participate, the first step for students is to register with an email address and phone number.
The students are then encouraged to gather their team, connect with their teacher, and start developing their project. Students have until April 2026 to develop their ideas.
Project submissions must be undertaken solely by one member of the team, referred to as the team leader.
The proposal must be comprehensively presented in one image file, which depicts the project and includes a written description as part of the image file that explains the idea and details.
Students need to submit:
- One image file, in the style of a project board, which depicts your project and includes a written description of the project
- A description of your project, no longer than 800 words as a separate text, in English
- A thumbnail image
- A banner image
The jury will only look at the image, so we recommend you include all text on the project board. The thumbnail and the banner images will only be used on the project showcase page after the competition has ended.
The total prize money available is € 33,000, which will be split between eight prizes: five regional prizes, plus three special prizes and one global award.
For more information about the prizes available for this competition, visit Velux’s website.
Submission deadlines
The registration deadline is 30 March 2026, while the submission deadline is 6 April.
The Velux Group will individually notify all prize winners immediately after selection by the jury on 30 April.
The team leader of winning projects should ensure that they are contactable in order to allow sufficient time to arrange visas, if necessary.
Communication, photos, and films of winners and winning projects, will be published on the D/A Daylight and Architecture website, as well as in architectural magazines, newspapers, webpages, and other relevant media after the announcement of the eight prize winners in May, and the one award winner in July.
By entering Light of Tomorrow by Velux 2026, the participants accept that the UIA and the organiser – The Velux Group – may publish and disseminate the submitted projects and photos of the participants in analogue and digital form.
About Velux
Velux is an international window manufacturer that was founded in Denmark.
For more than 80 years, the brand has created better indoor environments by bringing daylight and fresh air into homes and other buildings all over the world.
Velux’s key products are roof windows, flat roof skylights and modular skylights for commercial buildings in addition to accessories such as blinds, and roller shutters, plus solutions for operating them, for example, sensor-driven, remote controlled and smart-home systems.
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