Buildner’s Home of Shadows Competition: Winners of the Artificial Light-Free Home Challenge

Buildner has announced the results of its second annual Home of Shadows international architecture ideas competition. This competition series is designed to focus on the vital interplay between light and shadow in creating functional and inviting living spaces, highlighting the importance of natural light in home design, which is essential for creating comfortable, welcoming, and practical environments.

Light is regarded as a language through which architects express emotions in their designs, with shadows playing an equally significant role in shaping the ambiance of a space. The balance between light and shadow allows for the creation of spaces with depth and texture, setting different moods for various purposes. Often, this balance is achieved through the strategic placement of windows and doors.

For this edition, participants were tasked with designing a home for a hypothetical couple, adhering to one primary rule: no artificial light within the home. The jury sought designs that demonstrated how natural light could shape architectural decisions. Participants could select any theoretical site for their Home of Shadows and propose a fully functional building incorporating essential amenities, such as a kitchen, bedroom, living room, bathroom, and a small courtyard.

Buildner worked with an international jury panel to evaluate the received entries:

• Sarah Broadstock is an architect at London-based Studio Bark
• Ophélie Herranz is a Director at Nomos Architects in Madrid
• Robert Hutchison is an American practitioner, researcher, and educator
• Roxanne Kaye is a Principal at Cape Town-based SAOTA
• Nikita Morell is a specialized copywriter for architects and Founder of Architects WordShop
• Andrew Maynard is Principal and Architect at Melbourne-based Austin Maynard Architects
• Blake T. Smith is an educator and an Associate Senior Designer at BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group
• Daniel Toole is the Founder and Principal at Portland-based Daniel Toole Architecture
• Patcharada Inplang and Thongchai Chansamak are the founders of Sher Maker, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Buildner has already launched the third edition of the Home of Shadows competition, with an early registration deadline of September 17. Other ongoing, open international competitions include the Unbuilt Award, which honors unrealized project proposals with a €100,000 prize fund; as well as the Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Housing Challenge and the Norman Foster Foundation Kharkiv Freedom Square Revival, joint initiatives by the Kharkiv City Council and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) to repair conditions in Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict.

Projects

First Prize Winner

Project Title: Dancing Flow
Authors: Haneul Kim, Sayun Park, and Eunbi Lee, from South Korea

“Dancing Flow” is located in Jinju, South Korea. Utilizing Jinju’s abundant sunlight, the house features a linear open floor plan with varied walls and openings. The curved bedroom walls provide privacy while welcoming the morning light, guiding the couple from the bedroom through shadowed dressing rooms to softly lit bathrooms. The courtyard, framed by polycarbonate walls, creates a restful ambiance with delicate, time-dependent lighting effects. Functional spaces are designed with light in mind: the south-facing living room is bright yet shielded from glare, the kitchen optimally uses light at specific times, and the workroom and meditation room use light and shadow to create distinct atmospheres for productivity and introspection. The design harmonizes daily emotions with essential life functions.

Second Prize Winner + Buildner Student Award Winner

Project Title: The Dance Of Shadows
Authors: Yufei Dong of Southeast University, from China

“Dance of Shadows” harnesses natural light to shape the daily rhythms of its occupants. The design aligns spaces with the sun’s path, creating dynamic, interconnected areas that evolve with the changing light. Organized around a rounded courtyard, the home features an entrance illuminated from above, where shadows mark the time of day. The artistic space captures the gentle morning light, fostering creativity. The living room is positioned to bask in the warm, golden glow of sunset, enhancing its ambiance. The centrally located bedroom is bathed in the tranquil light of the moon and stars, providing a serene environment for rest. This thoughtful arrangement highlights the profound relationship between light, shadow, and architecture, enriching the daily experience of its residents.

Third Prize Winner

Project Title: Shamash – The Shade Of The Sun
Authors: Mladenka Doric, Miroslav Lukic, Kristina Pajic, Aleksandar Tesic, of Fakultet Tehničkih nauka u Novom Sadu, from Serbia

“The Shade of the Sun” centers around a home designed to synchronize with the sun’s path, creating a rhythmic living experience akin to clockwork. The house features concentric circles that evoke a temple-like atmosphere, with strategically placed openings in the walls to filter sunlight. Inspired by Mesopotamian maze-like structures, the circular floor plan captures varying spatial depths under a single roof. To reach the central fire pit, symbolizing the hearth, one must traverse a path through water, which sustains both vegetation and residents. Emphasizing the interplay of light and shadow, each room is treated as an individual entity, resulting in diverse shadows that highlight the vitality of life within the enclosed oasis.

Buildner Sustainability Prize Winner

Project Title: Komorebi House
Authors: Natalia Belén Marino from Argentina

This project explores the coexistence of nature and humans by focusing on light as a structural element of visibility and comfort. It addresses challenges in environments with limited natural light, balancing natural habitat with the necessary protection and visibility for societal development. The design is situated in complex terrain where light and habitat coexist in a metastable relationship, demanding a unifying approach. Light serves as the organizing principle, with direction and position as key elements. The central axis directs light, a linear sequence reflects time, and a dome covers the controllable habitat, creating a space enveloped in pure light. This habitat modulates visibility to create environments with specific uses and functions, demonstrating the potential for harmonious coexistence between light and habitat.

Highlighted Submissions

Project Title: Shadow In Shadow
Authors: Yaxin Sun, Chenglu Xue, Zijie Wei, from the United States

This is a proposal for a home in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where abundant natural sunlight is a key feature year-round. Designed for a couple, this home fully embraces natural light, eliminating the need for artificial lighting. The architectural style seamlessly integrates Islamic art, drawing inspiration from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain—an enduring symbol of late Muslim art in Europe. Through diagram analysis, the design incorporates two main concepts: layered forms and the shadows they cast, creating black margins. These ideas informed the home’s floor plan and layout, with black edging in the paving enhancing the dynamic interplay of light and shadow, and enriching the aesthetic experience throughout the space.

Project Title: A Chronicle of Life in Shadows
Authors: Yunhao Zhong, Haoming Zhu, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, from the United States

The project tells the story of a unique desert home designed for a scientist and an artist. Shaped like a crescent, the house mirrors the night sky, with its layout inspired by star trails and functioning as a sundial. Its nine optical techniques and modern materials use natural light to cast shadows that portray key moments of the couple’s life—from their first meeting to their wedding. As the sun moves, these memories come alive, blending time and emotion. Through prisms, rainbow shadows grace the dining area, while soft, wavy light refracts in the bath, evoking their love. This architectural marvel transforms memory into form, blending science, art, and storytelling.

Project Title: Home of Shadows
Authors: Anna Sukhaia

This building features an interaction of light and shadow with reflective surfaces such as mirrors and water. Large windows allow ample light inside, but it encounters obstacles that create captivating shadow patterns on the walls and floors throughout the day. At night, moonlight reflects off the mirrored surfaces, adding a mysterious atmosphere. The white décor enhances the soft light, while the evening brings warm red hues from the sunset. Rough textures create additional shadows, highlighting the relief. Metal accents on slopes and ceilings reflect light, diffusing it softly. A central pool reflects sunlight into all parts of the house, casting dynamic reflections that change with the weather and enhancing the space’s unique beauty and atmosphere.

Project Title: ECLIPSE
Authors: Hunter John Keene from the United States

“ECLIPSE” represents humanity’s instinct to adapt, responding to an overwhelming environment regardless of its origin. Situated in Times Square, a chaotic hub of unchecked economic growth and consumerism, the installation filters the relentless light saturation that defines the area. By using shadows as a resource, it redefines the relationship with overexposure. Rotating lenses open and close like pores, allowing inhabitants to adjust their surroundings to a natural rhythm of light and dark. Harsh billboard lights are transformed into a beautiful utility, casting dynamic constellations on interior walls. The home, resembling native structures such as water towers and scaffolding, blends seamlessly into its urban setting, creating a peaceful flow amidst the relentless city energy.