This post is brought to you by VELUX
Daylight remains one of architecture’s most fundamental and powerful design tools, shaping how we experience space, supporting wellbeing, and contributing to more sustainable buildings. With Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026, architecture students from around the world were invited to explore daylight as a primary driver of design.
From 539 submissions across 345 architecture schools globally, one project has now been selected as the Global Winner, standing out for its innovation in daylight design and response to contemporary challenges.
Global Winning Project
Project title: Sun the Quilt
Students: XU Qicheng, LUO Jun, GAO Rui, RUAN Guoqiang, ZHANG Xuanyi, and CAI Kunhong
Institution: Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology
Country: China
Sun the Quilt rethinks the ordinary domestic act of drying textiles, food, and household objects within dense urban environments. The project introduces an adaptable façade system that combines daylight modulation, ventilation, shading, and drying into a single architectural element.
Presentation board for Sun the Quilt, the Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026 global winning project
Sun the Quilt, the 2026 Global Winning Project, proposes an adaptable façade system that combines daylight modulation, ventilation, shading, and drying. Image courtesy of VELUX.
Detail rendering from Sun the Quilt by students from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology
The winning project rethinks the everyday act of drying textiles, food, and household objects within dense urban environments. Image courtesy of VELUX.
A Vision for Future Architecture
Selected by an international jury of architects and educators including James Carpenter, Liene Jākobsone, Níall McLaughlin, Oya Atalay Franck, Elena Arregui Jaeger, and Doris Wâlchli, the winning project demonstrates how daylight can be used not only as a source of illumination, but as part of an architectural strategy rooted in everyday life.
The jury recognized the project for making poetry out of the ordinary. By addressing the real-life need to ventilate and dry quilts, and transforming that domestic practice into a shading element, the proposal offers a low-tech architectural solution that feels both adaptable and grounded. It carries subcultural depth while responding to an existing spatial, environmental, and social condition.
Portraits of the student team behind Sun the Quilt
The winning team behind Sun the Quilt: XU Qicheng, LUO Jun, GAO Rui, RUAN Guoqiang, ZHANG Xuanyi, and CAI Kunhong of Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology. Image courtesy of VELUX.
In addition to the Global Winner, eight regional winners and three special prize recipients were recognized, showcasing the breadth of ideas emerging from architecture schools across the globe.
From Global Platform to Global Stage
The finalists presented their projects live at the UIA World Congress of Architects in Barcelona, where an international audience and expert jury experienced the ideas behind each proposal before selecting the overall winner.
The winning team celebrates its recognition at the Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026 global award ceremony. Image courtesy of VELUX.
Finalists and winners gathered in Barcelona for the Light of Tomorrow by VELUX 2026 global award announcement. Image courtesy of VELUX.
About Light of Tomorrow by VELUX
Established in 2004, Light of Tomorrow by VELUX is one of the largest student competitions dedicated to daylight in architecture. With more than 6,000 projects submitted to date, it provides a global platform for the next generation of architects to test ideas, challenge conventions, and explore the role of daylight in shaping the built environment.