Architecture BSc Graduate Leads Bartlett Prizewinners at Archisource Drawing of the Year 2022 Awards

The annual competition rewards exceptional skill and ideas in architectural drawing, with entries from students and professionals around the world. The awards series is judged in five categories - the Drawing of the Year Award, the Architectural Award, the Environmental Award, the Narrative Award and the Visualisation Award. This year a total prize fund of £30,000 was awarded to the winners, who were judged on the originality of their approach, the style and/or content; the use of media and the graphic and aesthetic quality; their ability to represent and communicate intent or narrative; and the extent of their drawings’ impact and proposition.

Bartlett graduate Joe Russell beat thousands of entrants from 95 countries to earn the top prize for the drawings in his final undergraduate project, ‘Tightening the Green Belt: Oakwood Mews, Enfield, N14’. Responding to housing shortages in the UK, Joe’s project is sited near a soon-to-be-demolished London Underground depot in North London, and adopts a ‘hyper-localised’ approach to harvested and salvaged materials. Two-hundred-and-fifty metres from the site is arable land, where straw is be grown for insulation and thatched roofs, and the adjacent pine tree wood provides timber. This localised sourcing significantly reduces the scheme’s carbon footprint. 

‘Tightening the Green Belt: Oakwood Mews, Enfield, N14’

by Joe Russell
Architecture BSc (ARB/RIBA Part 1), UG0, 2022

‘This project responds to the UK’s increasingly severe housing crisis by proposing that architects need to be more proactively involved in development schemes rather than just wait for commissions to come to them. I focused the project on London, regarded as the ‘epicentre’ of the UK housing crisis. After initial investigations, I decided to tackle the controversial issue of dealing with the ‘Green Belt’ surrounding the city. The project proposes a housing/community scheme that challenges existing Green Belt planning policy through a design explicitly predicated on social and ecological benefits. The scheme offers a precedent for sustainable future developments through its hyper-localised approach to material sourcing and construction.’

“I am delighted to be awarded the Drawing of the Year 2022 for my project Tightening the Green Belt. It is recognition of the hard work put into crafting imagery that best conveys the project's narrative. The award is a reflection of the exemplary teaching environment created by my tutors, Murray Fraser and Michiko Sumi, during my time in Unit UG0."

- Joe Russell

Commenting on Joe’s winning submission, the judges said,

It’s refreshing to see such a sophisticated and powerful execution of visual representations of outstanding qualities that are also underpinned by a well-grounded, sustainable narrative and purpose.”

Joe studied Architecture BSc (ARB/RIBA Part 1) in unit UG0, tutored by Murray Fraser and Michiko Sumi. His project was exhibited at The Bartlett Summer Show 2022, where he also won a Bartlett School of Architecture Medal for his work.

It was an excellent year for Bartlett graduates, who collected accolades across multiple categories. Annabelle Tan (Architecture MArch, PG11) added to her collection of awards by winning the top prize in the Environmental category for her drawing ‘A Sliver of Housing’ from her Architecture MArch (ARB/RIBA Part 2) project ‘Past, Present and Post-Tropicality’. Late last year Annabelle was the first prizewinner in history to collect the Silver, Bronze and Dissertation Medals at the RIBA President’s Medals, as well as winning first prize in RIBA Journal’s Eye Line Drawing Competition in 2021, the Donaldson Medal in 2019 and the SOM Foundation Fellowship in 2019.

Master’s graduate Zifeng Ye also received a special mention in the same category for his Architecture MArch PG11 graduating project ‘Shanghai Nostalgia’. In the Architectural Category, 2021 graduate Yasmin North (Architecture BSc, UG7) was also commended for her project ‘The Shrine to a Priori: A View Behind the Veils’. Heather Black (Architecture MArch, PG18) was commended in the Environmental category, for ‘Trading Boundaries’, while in the Narrative category, Theo Lawless (Architecture MArch, PG12) was highly commended for ‘Twin Elevation Hung in Cellar Bar’ from his project ‘A Weird Pub in the Middle of Nowhere’.

All of the recognised graduates’ projects were exhibited at The Bartlett Summer Show over the last two years. You can explore their work at our Bartlett Show Archive by visiting the links below.

This year’s show launches on 25 June and will present the work of undergraduate and graduate students from five of the school’s programmes.

More information

• Find out more about the ARchisource Drawing of the Year 2022 Awards
• Find out more about Joe Russell’s winning project
• Explore Annabelle Tan’s work
• Explore Zifeng Ye’s project
• Visit Heather Black’s project
• Explore Theo Lawless’s work

Images:
Lead image: ‘Tightening the Green Belt: Oakwood Mews, Enfield, N14’ by Joe Russell, Architecture BSc (ARB/RIBA Part 1), UG0, 2022
Carousel 1: ‘Tightening the Green Belt: Oakwood Mews, Enfield, N14’ by Joe Russell, Architecture BSc (ARB/RIBA Part 1), UG0, 2022
Carousel 2: ‘A Sliver of Housing’ from ‘Past, Present and Post-Tropicality’ by Annabelle Tan, Architecture MArch, PG11, 2022
‘The Shrine to a Priori: A View Behind the Veils’ by Yasmin North, Architecture BSc, UG7, 2021
‘Shanghai Nostalgia’ by Zifeng Ye, Architecture MArch, PG11, 2022
Twin Elevation Hung in Cellar Bar’ from ‘A Weird Pub in the Middle of Nowhere’, Theo Lawless, Architecture MArch, PG12, 2022
‘Trading Boundaries’ by Heather Black, Architecture MArch, PG18, 2022