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Universita Luigi Bocconi Milan by Grafton Architects, ©Iwan Baan

2022 WINNERS : GRAFTON ARCHITECTS & ANNA WIRZ-JUSTICE

The 2022 laureates of the Daylight Award are Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, from Grafton Architects, for architecture, and Anna Wirz-Justice, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatric Neurobiology for her research.

According to the jury, the three women not only “represent international excellence in daylight research and practice, but they also embody a generous and humanistic spirit regarding the celebration of daylight.”

Established by the philanthropic foundations, VILLUM FONDEN, VELUX FONDEN and VELUX STIFTUNG, and endorsed by the UIA, the Award is conferred biennially in two categories, The Daylight Award for Architecture and The Daylight Award for Research.

DAYLIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE: GRAFTON ARCHITECTS

The Daylight Award for Architecture recognises the 2020 Pritzker laureates, Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects, for their mastery of natural light, which radiates a relaxed, generous, and calm presence through their buildings. 

According to Yvonne Farrell, the role of light in architecture is more than an aesthetic pleasure, but  a sustainable source of “extraordinary energy”: “What we really try to do is capture the environmental conditions of location, for people to enjoy it. It is a cultural relationship. Our relationship with light starts with looking at the angle of the sun, one of the aspects that we look at very deeply.”

DAYLIGHT IN RESEARCH: ANNA WIRZ-JUSTICE

Anna Wirz-Justice (left), at EBRS in Strasbourg in 2009 and at the Venice  Biennial in 2014 (right)

The Daylight Award for Research was attributed to Anna Wirz-Justice for her pioneering research on how human circadian rhythms and sleep are regulated by light.  

As Head of the Centre for Chronobiology at the Psychiatric University Clinic in Basel, studied the link between mental health and abnormal light exposure. Research on the benefits of daylight has initiated "new lighting standards to incorporate non-visual effects of light as necessary for health," explained Wirz-Justice. "It has re-awakened interest in the huge potential of daylight to complement artificial light”. 

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The International Union of Architects (UIA) is an international non-governmental organisation based in Paris. Established in 1948, it is the only organisation representing architects across the globe working to unify architects, influence public policies on construction and development, and advance architecture in service to the needs of society.