steven holl and SAKO named winners of 2020 vanceva world of color awards

mesmerising in color as much as they do in engineering innovation, the winners of the 2020 vanceva® world of color awards™ have been announced. annually, the international competition recognizes architectural projects that use the brand’s interlayers for glass. the recipients this year, once again, exemplify how magnificently glass can be incorporated into architectural design, including the likes of steven holl architects, SAKO architects and more.

‘the world of color awards grows larger each year it is held,’ says priya kalsi, global market segment manager with eastman, the manufacturer of the vanceva color system for laminated glass. ‘we’ve received some incredible entries this year [for 2020]. architects and designers are continuously exploring and surprising us with their creative use of vanceva color interlayers to create landmark buildings, special effects and moods in interiors, and even in wayfinding.’

a key entry requirement for the competition is the use of vanceva color interlayers in laminated glass configurations. the brand offers architects and designers with the largest system of PVB interlayer colors in the world with a palette that can be combined to create more than 17,000 transparent, translucent or solid colors. with a jury of five renowned professionals, entries are judged on the creative use of glass with laminated color interlayers, aesthetics and degree of attention given to the overall benefits and technology of the glass.

prepare to be dazzled and amazed – see the full set of 2020 vanceva® world of color awards™ winners of the exterior and interior divisions, as well as four honorable mentions, below.

kinder building – museum of fine arts houston, texas, USA (see project here)
image by peter molick / thomas kirk III

EXTERIOR division winner: kinder building – museum of fine arts houston, texas, USA

architects: steven holl architects

façade contractor: josef gartner (permasteelisa north america)

glass fabricator: shenzhen shennan yi glass product co., ltd

façade and structural engineer: knippers helbig advanced engineering

featured product: vanceva PVB in arctic snow

expanding the museum of fine arts houston, steven holl architects have encased the entire structure in white glass, from a canopied entrance to clerestory windows to a double-layered facade of laminated glass tubes over an opaque weather wall. translucent interlayers fine-tune the desired light transmission so that the museum’s art is enjoyed in natural sunlight, yet remains protected from damaging UV rays.

shennan yi fabricated the ventilated façade – approximately 1,150 translucent glass tubes in front of opaque walls and large punched windows – with a steel substructure and an invisible structural glazing for support. the glass tubes are acid-etched with four translucent vanceva arctic snow PVB interlayers that precisely control the amount of daylight passing through them while providing a high degree of safety.

the design’s absence of color is not lost on WOCA juror benjamin wright, saying, ‘as an aesthetic maximalist it seems somewhat contrary to award a color award to a monochromatic white building, but in this case the architects and fabricators have used the shape and nature of the glass to optimal effect. the challenge of lighting a museum with natural light can not be understated, and I look forward to visiting this work in person and exploring the building and collections.‘

kinder building – museum of fine arts houston, texas, USA (see project here)
images © richard barnes

kaleidoscope, tianshu city, gansu province, china (see project here)
images courtesy of the architect

INTERIOR division winner: kaleidoscope, tianshu city, gansu province, china

architects: SAKO architects

glass fabricator: shanxi jingfeng glass co., ltd

featured product: vanceva PVB in red, orange, yellow, green and blue

igniting children’s creativity, SAKO architects’ kaleidoscope kindergarten creates an internal pattern of laminated glass with 10 vibrant vanceva interlayers fabricated by shanxi jingfeng glass co., ltd. when sunlight shines in from classrooms and the atrium’s glass ceiling onto the school’s central stairway, colorful shadows of varying shapes form free-flowing rainbows for a kaleidoscopic effect that rotates as the sun moves through the day. at night, the interior lighting turns the building into a breath-taking piece of art.

WOCA juror ammar al assam acknowledges the architects’ intent to create a joyful learning environment, saying, ‘beautiful and playful application of colored glass, making the kindergarten look inviting, cheerful, and inspiring to the children. the proportions of the color splashes against the white envelope feel just right, and the choice of soft gradient colors too.‘

kaleidoscope, tianshu city, gansu province, china (see project here)
images courtesy of the architect

honorable mention: EADA business school, barcelona, spain
architects: CDB arquitectura
glass laminator: vidresif
featured product: vanceva PVB in sahara sun, sapphire blue and arctic snow

honorable mention: galerie artem, nancy, france
architects: agence nicolas michelin and associates (ANMA)
glass laminator: ariño duglass
featured product: vanceva PVB in coral rose, sapphire blue, aquamarine, smoke grey and
ruby red

honorable mention: taipei performing arts centre, taipei, taiwan
architects: rem koolhaas / OMA
glass laminator: cricursa
featured product: vanceva PVB in shale grey from the earth tones collection

honorable mention: OSZO 44 – the chromatic circle of johannes itten, zurich – küsnacht, switzerland
artist: ritchie riediger
glass laminator: flachglas
featured product: vanceva PVB in golden light, sahara sun, aquamarine, coral rose, evening shadow, sapphire and ruby red