fairy tales 2020 competition winner envisions 'the year without a winter'

blank space has announced the winners of ‘fairy tales 2020,’ the fictional architecture competition now in its seventh year. submissions from over 65 countries investigate current events and the creative process through crafted short stories and architectural artwork. chosen by a jury of more than 20 leading architects, designers, and storytellers, the award-winning entry envisions ‘the year without a winter.’ winners amás fischer and carlotta cominetti comment: ‘we wrote our story thinking about the moment when the world has to stop and people have to change their habits to avoid the collapse and to protect themselves from an unfamiliar event, like a very strong and sudden climate change.’

images by virginlemon | @virginlemon

the designers of winning entry — ‘the year without a winter’ — imagine a reality which is together surreal, dark, and optimistic. the duo have together founded virginlemon, a paris-based architectural imagery and animation studio. the timely project introduces a sense of warning and hope during uncertain times, imagining a state of global crisis: ‘in november the temperatures were still 10 degrees above the seasonal averages. I started thinking differently about those nights, with a sense of regret. sometimes almost with anger. like many others, I was spending my days wondering why I’d come back to the city.’

the duo elaborates on the timeliness of the blank space-organized ‘fairy tales 2020’ competition entry during the era of COVID-19: ‘we now realize how our story can look like the situation the world is experiencing today: waiting, boredom, loneliness, regrets, social media as the only way out. but what we really wanted to highlight is how emergency situations can lead to a real turning point. difficult situations lead people to think more and use their creativity differently. since this pandemic started we have been talking about a life changing event, which is exactly the subject of our story. our lives will change, but for the better.’