In brief
- Eleven drawings were selected from 168 entries for the 2026 edition.
- Ross Cameron won the hand-drawn category prize for his pencil drawing of scaffolding around the Glasgow School of Art.
- The shortlist explores a range of themes, including housing, climate, memory, addiction and speculative architecture.
- The overall winner will be announced in early 2027; the drawings will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival from 18–20 November 2026.
Eleven drawings have been selected from 168 entries submitted worldwide for the 2026 edition of the Architecture Drawing Prize. The shortlist was announced on 4 November 2026. Ross Cameron won the hand-drawn category prize, while the overall winner is expected to be announced at Sir John Soane’s Museum in London in early 2027. An exhibition at the same museum is scheduled to run from 27 January to 28 February 2027.
What works are on the shortlist?
The prize takes an approach to architectural drawing that is not limited to a single form or technique. The selected works address diverse themes, including memory, housing, climate, ecology, social issues and imagined worlds. The jury considered technical skill, originality and the communication of architectural ideas among its evaluation criteria.
Among the featured works is Ross Cameron’s pencil drawing of the scaffolding surrounding the Glasgow School of Art, which won the hand-drawn category prize. Ioana Enache’s The People’s Palace archives oral histories embedded in the foundations of the unfinished Romanian Opera House, while Bojana Sićović’s Urban Scenography depicts social housing in New Belgrade.
Javier García Goicoechea’s In the Eye of the Storm traces the progression of addiction through the six floor plans of a casino. Annabelle Tan’s Post-Tropical Landscapes depicts concrete structures covered in vines for Singapore, while Laurie Chetwood’s Re-enchanted City imagines an abandoned metropolis being reopened for settlement.
The shortlist also includes Alexandra Kazandzhyan’s Floating Feast, a floating ziggurat made up of a single table, and Gary Polk’s Gilgamesh, which assembles architectural fragments into a fantastical creature. Also selected are Michael Chapman’s work depicting the fictional Fox River prison in a 49-panel map, Ben Johnson’s drawing-and-paint interpretation of a corridor without gravity, and Jarrell Goh’s visual masterplan for Cambridge Business Park.
How are the jury and exhibition programme taking shape?
The works were submitted in a range of formats, from conceptual, technical and construction drawings to perspectives and speculative scenarios. The shortlist was chosen through an overall assessment rather than separate category groups. The organisers also note the growing impact of AI tools and techniques on drawing.
The prize is curated jointly by Make Architects, Sir John Soane’s Museum and the World Architecture Festival (WAF). The selected drawings will also be shown at the World Architecture Festival, taking place at the Broward County Convention Center from 18–20 November 2026. The jury included Make Architects founder Ken Shuttleworth, artists Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell, and WAF programme director Paul Finch, alongside figures from a range of institutions and disciplines.
What does this mean for architecture and visualisation practice?
The shortlist shows that drawing is not simply an output used to present a project; it can also serve a range of purposes in research, idea development and public communication. Jarrell Goh’s masterplan for public consultation and Javier García Goicoechea’s work, which uses plans as part of a psychological narrative, demonstrate how the choice of representation can vary according to its purpose.
The source does not specify which software or hardware was used to produce the drawings. As a result, the shortlist offers no guidance on specific tools, hardware requirements or compatibility. The fact that the overall winner will be announced in early 2027 also means the announcement is not yet complete: at this point, what is confirmed is the selection of 11 works and the winner of the hand-drawn category prize.
Sources
1 sourceSource texts are not republished; short quotes are marked, everything else is our own summary and commentary.
The value of this shortlist for architecture firms and visualisation teams lies less in promoting a single production technique than in showing how drawing can serve different purposes. Bringing together a masterplan created for public consultation and speculative narratives about memory or ecology is a reminder that representational choices should be considered alongside a project’s goals.
For firms in Turkey, this announcement does not call for new hardware or licence investment. Since the tools used are not specified, it makes sense not to treat the shortlist as a software recommendation—and not to consider the result final until the overall winner is announced.
Frequently asked questions
How many works were selected for the Architecture Drawing Prize 2026?
Eleven drawings were selected from 168 entries. The overall winner will be announced in early 2027.
Who won the hand-drawn category prize at the Architecture Drawing Prize 2026?
Ross Cameron won the hand-drawn category prize for his pencil drawing of scaffolding around the Glasgow School of Art.
Where will the selected drawings be exhibited?
The shortlist will be shown at the World Architecture Festival, taking place at the Broward County Convention Center from 18–20 November 2026. The prize exhibition will be held at Sir John Soane’s Museum from 27 January to 28 February 2027.
