It’s time to let your best architectural visualizations shine! Architizer is thrilled to announce that the 3rd Annual One Rendering Challenge is officially open for entries, with a Final Entry Deadline of March 25th, 2022. Part of Architizer’s popular One X Challenge series, the One Rendering Challenge is a global architectural ideas competition that asks a simple question: Can you tell a powerful story about architecture and those that inhabit it with a single rendering?
This year, on top of two grand prizes of $2,500, we’re excited to announce that the Winners and 10 Commended Entries will also receive valuable rendering software packages from Chaos Group, the makers of V-Ray! Start preparing your submission today to get yourself in the running for major prizes and global publication:
Select Finalists from last season’s One Rendering Challenge: “Hope” by Vanya Dimitrova; “Forest Pavilion” by Daniel Temple; Floating Vestiges” by Timlok Li; “Closing Hour” by Mick Charoenphan.
Competition Brief
Your task is as follows: Create one rendering that powerfully communicates an architectural form or space and the experience of those that would inhabit it. It can be located anywhere in the world and be at any scale. It can take the form of a perspective, parallel projection, section, abstract or any other image format. As long as it is a computer generated visualization that portrays part or all of a building or group of buildings, it is eligible.
This should be accompanied by a short description of your proposal, no more than 150 words, which comprises your “story”. Your story should help explain what your rendering depicts, which could include: The type of architecture portrayed, where it might be located, who might inhabit it, what atmosphere it conjures, the essence it captures, and what makes it special.
Student and Non-Student Prizes
As with all the One X Challenges, the competition is designed for everyone — including you! Architects, rendering artists, designers, modelers, students and all creative people with some knowledge of rendering software are encouraged to enter. One student and one non-student will be selected as a top winner, with each winning the following:
- $2,500 Cash prize
- Software: 12 month V-Ray Collection license, courtesy of Chaos Group ($700 value)
- Featured Entry on Architizer Journal: Top billing in the Official One Rendering Winner’s Announcement (See last year’s announcement)
- An Exclusive Interview: A personal spotlight published in Architizer Journal (See one of last year’s interviews)
Select Finalists from last season: “Social Distancing” by Matheus Carvalho; “The Shelter” by Benjamin Springer; “HOPE” by Aim Tantikul; “Damavand Villa” by Alireza Kazemirad.
In addition, the creators of 10 Commended Entries will each win the following:
- Software: 12 month license for V-Ray, Corona or Phoenix (your choice) courtesy of Chaos Group (Up to $325 value)
- Publication on Architizer Journal: Inclusion in the Official One Rendering Winner’s Announcement (See last year’s announcement)
The 2 Top Winners and 10 Commended Entries will all be featured in our special Winners’ Announcement on Architizer Journal. 100 finalists will be published in Architizer’s major annual feature, 100 Renderings That Tell Powerful Stories About Architecture, to be distributed to Architizer’s community including 125,000+ newsletter subscribers and 4+ million social media followers! See last season’s Finalists here.
One Rendering Challenge Jury
Our Expert Jury comprises practitioners and thought leaders from the worlds of architecture and visualization, each with a special connection to the art of rendering. The jury represents those leaders who are actively bringing architectural ideas to the public today, both online and in the built environment. Selected jurors are as follows:
- Matthew Bannister, Cofounder of multi-disciplinary design and communications agency DBOX
- Ronen Bekerman, Founder of the Ronen Bekerman Architectural Visualization Blog and Cofounder of The Craft
- Keely Colcleugh, Founder of rendering studio Kilograph
- Carlotta Cominetti, Cofounder of rendering studio Virginlemon and Non-student Winner of the 1st Annual One Rendering Challenge
- Mengyi Fan, Director of Visualization at SHoP Architects
- Alex Hogrefe, Creator of visualizingarchitecture.com
- Paul Keskeys, Architect and Editor in Chief at Architizer
- Bennett Oh, Creator of Archi Hacks
- Duy Phan, 3D Artist at Binyan Studio and creator of 2 Commended Entries in the 1st Annual One Rendering Challenge
- Juan Rico, Architect, 3D visualiser; Founder and Active Director at Methanoia
All Finalists will have their renderings scrutinized by the panel, who will score the submissions according to 3 criteria: Aesthetics, communication and impact. More details on what the jury are looking for can be found here.
Select Finalists from last season: “Joint Structures” by Nash Hurley, Jean-Pierre Monclin and Sonja Guth; “A City Corporation” by Tara Fartash-Naini; “A Brave New World” by Christian Coackley; “After water rose up” by jingwei li.
With advances in both hardware and software, the art of rendering is more accessible than ever, providing designers around the world with powerful tools to create architectural visuals that tell us vivid stories about the world around us. Looking back at the turbulent global events of 2021, and forwards to the rest of 2022 and beyond, it will be fascinating to see what the winners of the One Rendering Challenge reveal about society and our surroundings, now and in the future.
We encourage you to share news of this competition with your fellow rendering friends, and stay tuned for more inspiration as you prepare your submissions. For more information, check out the FAQs, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us at competitions@architizer.com if you have any additional questions. We can’t wait to see your entries — good luck from everyone at Architizer!
Enter the One Rendering Challenge
Top image: “Early Departure” by Nazarii Derkach, Finalist in last season’s One Rendering Challenge.