Watch the latest in a series of cross-disciplinary daylight conversations
Dorte Mandrup & Peter Edwards: Daylight vs Urban Density
This episode of Daylight Conversations was filmed at the Zero Carbon Building Systems Lab on the ETH Hönggerberg campus in Zürich, Switzerland
Watch the lectures of the 2026 Laureates for Daylight in Architecture and Daylight Research
Recording of the lectures held at the award ceremony, at Danish Architecture Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, on 27 May 2026
The Daylight Award Laureates
THE DAYLIGHT AWARD 2026 — DAYLIGHT IN ARCHITECTURE
Momoyo Kaijima & Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Atelier Bow-Wow (JP)
The projects that Momoyo Kaijima and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto have carried out with their studio Atelier Bow-Wow since 1992 are medium-sized and smaller buildings for everyday use. These include residential buildings, offices, kindergartens, gallery spaces, research buildings, workshops and even “ad hoc architecture”. The innovative, thoughtful and highly varied work of the two architects can best be reflected through a selection of individual buildings, where their response to local conditions has led to very diverse creations and interventions often articulated through a highly innovative integration of daylight as a defining architectural element.
Meet Momoyo Kaijima and Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, and explore the way they think and work in the portrait film below.
THE DAYLIGHT AWARD 2026 — DAYLIGHT RESEARCH
Brittany N. Zepernick (US), Steven W. Wilhelm (US/CA), R. Michael McKay (CA)
Zepernick, Wilhelm and McKay are utilising their complementary skills to address the critical question of how different communities of light-harvesting algae are being affected by climate change. One area of research has shown that warmer water temperatures favour cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which can be toxic, over other, more beneficial types of algae (e.g. diatoms). This leads to more frequent, severe, and longer-lasting cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs). Such blooms have multiple impacts including oxygen depletion in aquatic environments resulting from the decomposition of CyanoHABs, creating "dead zones" just below the water's surface, which blocks sunlight from reaching submerged plants and algae crucial for the food web. In addition, the toxins in CyanoHABs are directly harmful to humans, pets and livestock. When such toxins enter the food chain, they harm whole ecosystems, affecting invertebrates, fish and birds.
Gain insight into their work in the portrait film below, filmed across their research locations in Canada.
What is
The Daylight Award?
The Daylight Award honours and supports research in the scientific understanding of daylight and its significance for health, wellbeing and a balanced ecosystem, as well as its experiential and mental value in architectural design. The intention is to underline the collaboration of disciplines that are usually considered as separate professional realms of expertise.
The Daylight Award strives to raise an integrated understanding of daylight in human life and the wider ecosystem, and to strengthen its positive impact.
The laureates of The Daylight Award 2026 are announced on the UNESCO International Day of Light, 16 May 2026.
Bridging disciplines
DORTE MANDRUP
As a humanist with a distinct nonconformist outlook, Dorte Mandrup is well known for her commitment to the development of the architectural practice and her frequent participation in public debates. Studies in sculpture, ceramics and medicine have influenced her approach to architecture, which has always been ‘hands-on’. Shape and form constitute her architectural practice ethos – to create spaces that are aesthetically pleasing, contextually relevant, and invite people to engage. Dorte is a member of The Daylight Award jury since 2022.
&
PETER EDWARDS
An ecologist by training, Peter Edwards obtained his Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University for a study on nutrient cycling in tropical rain forest. Peter has a strong interest in the application of science and technology for better policy and management. He was a member of the executive board of the Alliance for Global Sustainability, a research partnership between several leading universities. He continues his own research into the environmental benefits of urban greenery. Peter Edwards was a director of the Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability.
MORE THAN AN AWARD
Community of researchers, architects, educators and students, bringing new knowledge, innovation and applications of daylight.
PREVIOUS LAUREATES
The attention brought to the importance of daylight in human health flagged up the whole relationship between neuroscience and architecture in general
— Russell Foster, 2020 Daylight Research Laureate
Till Roenneberg
The Daylight Award for Research 2024
Alberto Campo Baeza
The Daylight Award for Architecture 2024
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara
The Daylight Award for Architecture 2022
ANNA WIRZ-JUSTICE
The Daylight Award for Research 2022
JUHA LEIVISKÄ
The Daylight Award for Architecture 2020
Finnish Architect and Designer
RUSSELL FOSTER
The Daylight Award for Research 2020
Director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Head of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford
HENRY PLUMMER
The Daylight Award for Lifetime Achievement 2020
Architect, Photographer & Writer
HIROSHI SAMBUICHI
The Daylight Award for Architecture 2018
GREG WARD
The Daylight Award for Research 2018
Consultant for Anyhere Software and Senior Member of Technical Staff – Research at Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
STEVEN HOLL
The Daylight Award for Architecture 2016
MARILYNE ANDERSEN
The Daylight Award for Research 2016
Our jury represent the highest possible level of expertise in the field of daylight
The jury represents relevant and comprehensive knowledge of the international scientific and architectural world.
In terms of merit, recognition and knowledge, the members are expected to be outstanding and highly respected by the international community.
The jury comprises at least six and no more than nine members. The jury should have members from at least three different countries and should not have more than two members from the same country.
What does daylight mean to you? What does daylight mean to you? What does daylight mean to you? What does daylight mean to you?
The following reflections are shared by people in our interdisciplinary network.
What does daylight mean to you?
DAYLIGHT REFLECTIONS
“Daylight as well as artificial light is shared by everyone across the globe, yet as light changes rather quietly without a notice or a sound, we often forget to appreciate its unique qualities. My fascination with fleeting moments of light and their connection to space led me to my interest in design, and now I question how the design world contributes to the data and science of light and space.”
— Yunni Cho
“To design comfortable daylit spaces in the digital age, we have to improve our knowledge on the threshold between comfort and discomfort and use evidence-based workflows. In my Ph.D. research, I aim to extend the applicability of prediction metrics for discomfort glare from daylight through targeted user studies.”
— Geraldine Quek
“Living in Scandinavia, daylight for me is the sensation of wakening up after a dark winter hibernation. We see people clearing their calendars as soon as the first spring sun is out. So it means mood, energy and motivation for me to get my daily “daylight shower”
— Mathias Sønderskov Schaltz
“Daylight means a lot for me, it brings happy moods, warm feelings and positive energy, it makes buildings and cities vivid for people, it brings colours to all the things we perceived, it is a fundamental element for aesthetic and health. It is also a key field of my research area, related to architecture research and healthy indoor climate.”
— Changying Xiang
“Daylight means quality and well-being to me. Daylight is an essential element in architectural design, just like the choice of finishing materials and the type of opening. An architectural project that does not consider daylighting at an early stage will always remain incomplete. The qualitative aspects are difficult to teach because they involve multidisciplinary and cultural aspects.”
— Federica Giuliani
“Daylight fills me with joy and gratitude because of the consistency, variation, and beauty the sun, the sky and the reflected light nurture and reveal the environment with – knowing that it’s a huge resource, which not only rejoices me – but everybody, who wants to enjoy it and make use of it. On the other hand, daylight can also be harsh creating glare and heat, it is a natural force which requires consideration when creating buildings and interiors.”
— Katja Bülow
“Daylight is the only non-negotiable quality of a space: It brings life, happiness, clarity, and good health. Whereas all other features are improvable, a space that does not have light is doomed.”
— Florencia Collo
“Daylight inspires me daily. Every morning, daylight streaming into my room is the greatest and most refreshing moment of the day. It gives me a sense of renewal and possibilities. I love to see the changes in daylight throughout the day.”
— Won Hee
“Daylight is an essential element in environmental design. It has a significant role in enhancing users’ perception of a space and saving building energy. Understanding the daylight performance in the built environment is a compulsory task for architectural designers and engineers.”
— Jiayu Pan
“For me (and I am sure for many others!), daylight is a source of joy and life. This delightful aspect of light, especially as it interacts with architecture and with nature, is what I am trying to capture in my scientific work.”
— Kynthia Chamilothori
“Daylight then for me has a sociological dimension whose interpretations should be examined differentially amongst social groups and contexts. Through understanding daylight from users’ perspectives, daylight’s practicality and sensory qualities come to the fore.”
— Maiss Razem
“To me, daylight means health, feel-good, hygiene, and freshness. 99% of human history, we have lived outside the cities and have been exposed to daylight. By 2050, this will dramatically change, and up to 70% of the population will live in denser cities where access to daylight becomes a rare possibility. ”
— Mandana Sarey Khanie
“I have a hybrid background in architecture and environmental design, and for me, daylight is important for various reasons: It may not only visually modify a space by creating contrast or reflections, but it can also make your work environment more pleasant, as well as give comfort and provide safety. What is even more important, it has the power to make you feel well by entraining your biological”
— Victoria Soto Magan
“We have a craving for daylight in so many aspects of our lives that daylight means to me simply what I want, what everybody wants.”
— Niko Gentile
“For me, daylighting is the starting element to work with when developing a new architectural object. The landscape around one building, surroundings in the form of newly erected buildings, or new finishes on the facades, are all changeable elements, and the only element always there in its original condition is the characteristic daylight, defined by the solar microclimate. ”
— Biljana Obradovic
“Daylight brings me joy. It gives form to matter around us and enables to experience it. It introduces a new scene every day. I see daylight as the ultimate resource and the subject of exploration.”
— Mihkel Pajuste
“As most other Scandinavians I really appreciate the daylight, when it is available. In the springtime, when the dark winter is replaced by sunny afternoons, I really feel how my mood and energy levels are recharged.”
— Ida Neel Sælland
“The daylight is essential in our lives, to place us in time and space and not only shape our experience of the buildings but also impact our emotional states.”
— Sara Molarinho
“For me, daylight is a shaper. In an unmaterial sense, it defines cultures, behaviors and habits. At the same time, tangibly, it shapes buildings and spaces and plays an essential role in our spatial/sensory experience.”
— Natalia Giraldo Vasquez
“Daylight is life. It is essential for our health, biological functions and phycological feelings.”
— Paola Jara
Daylight as well as artificial light is shared by everyone across the globe, yet as light changes rather quietly without a notice or a sound, we often forget to appreciate its unique qualities. My fascination with fleeting moments of light and their connection to space led me to my interest in design, and now I question how the design world contributes to the data and science of light and space.
— Yunni Cho
featured TESTIMONIAL
GERALDINE
QUEK
Ph.D. Candidate/Doctoral Assistant · EPFL
(École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)
SELECTED DAYLIGHT COMMUNITY TESTIMONIALS
The community around daylight first and foremost excists trough the tremendious work done by the world’s leading scientist, professors and architects. Here we shed light on some of them.
EXPLORE
PRESS / MEDIA
Download press releases and images, in connection to The Daylight Award Laureates.
Here you can copy or download press releases and images.
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
Steven Holl receiving The Daylight Award for Architecture at 2016 ceremony
Steven Holl receiving The Daylight Award for Architecture at 2016 ceremony
Russell Foster Speaking
Russell Foster Speaking
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
The Daylight Award 2018 / Photo: Alain Herzog
Velux Daylight Symposium 2011. Speakers
Velux Daylight Symposium 2011. Speakers
NEWS / SOCIAL MEDIA