Global design and BIM (building information management) software provider Vectorworks, Inc. congratulates the winners of its 2022 Vectorworks Design Scholarship. In its announcement dated 12 December 2022, Vectorworks listed all its Design Scholarship winners. It also named Michelle Wanitzek the winner of the prestigious Richard Diehl Award.
Vectorworks design scholarship winner entitled “Nomad Coworking” by Michelle Wanitzek. A coworking space and coffee shop in a listed building.
Vectorworks is a strong supporter of the world’s future designers and this is its sixth annual Vectorworks Design Scholarship. This year it received over 1,000 submissions. Scholarships were awarded to 30 students for 22 projects around the world, in the architecture, entertainment, interior design, and landscape industries.
Nomad Coworking
This year’s Vectorworks Design Scholarship winning project, entitled “Nomad Coworking” was submitted by Michelle Wanitzek for her master’s thesis at the University of Wismar. It features a coworking space and coffee shop in a listed building. This is a site identified and preserved for its architectural or historical significance.
“It is a great honor to win the Richard Diehl Award with my thesis project, especially because I never expected this success,” said Wanitzek. “It means a lot to me to show that interior design is much more than most people realize. It’s about how we want to live and how we can utilize the architecture that already surrounds us. I think in today ’s world, there should be an increased focus on repurposing existing buildings and I hope this award will increase awareness of the practice.”
Her project focuses on the increasing importance of alternative and flexible workspaces. The design tackled a challenging task, namely working with a historical building’s intricacies and structural limits. Meanwhile the design also needed to preserve the protected façade and retain the building’s overall look and feel.
Vectorworks Design Scholarship winner showing the building’s protected façade.
Vectorworks Solutions Team Manager Rob Hollis AIA told us:
“In a large group of finalists, the ‘Nomad Coworking’ project stood out with a graphically rich, comprehensive, and respectful play on adaptive reuse. The detail-heavy existing vernacular is respected with a tactful approach to material selection and textural play. Michelle’s use of diagrams opposed to plans and details told a unified and visually compelling story from concept through visualization. All of this year’s winners should be very proud. Clearly, the future of design is in extremely capable hands with these talented students.”
Courageous, creative, and consistent!
Judging panel member Birgit Von Moltke of von Moltke interior designers said, “Courageous, creative, and consistent! Michelle Wanitzek’s project, ‘Nomad Coworking,’ is a prime example of holistic interior design for existing historic buildings.”
The selected Vectorworks Design Scholarship winners represent many countries worldwide including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. An expert panel of international judges evaluated all submissions on five main criteria: design, originality, presentation, technology, and writing.
Winners received the equivalent of up to 3,000 USD in their local currency, free Vectorworks educational software licenses for their schools, and complimentary virtual workshop training. As the Richard Diehl Award winner, Wanitzek received an additional prize package including the equivalent of 7,000 USD in local currency and professional networking opportunities.
Other Vectorworks Design Scholarship winners, 2022
Architecture Winners
- “Timber: Material Explorations and Speculations” by Ahmed Helal, City College of New York.
- “Salt Market” by Claudia A Crespo Castro, University of Puerto Rico Río Piedras – School of Architecture.
- “The Conservative Pubs of Hierarchy”’ by Nicoleta Rugina, Birmingham City University.
- “Working and Living in Symbiosis” by Ildut Lesteven, Ecole Nationale Supérieur d’Architecture Paris Val-de-Seine.
- “Ubuntu – Small Town, Big House” by Yui Hasegawa and Yori Mihara, Musashino Art University.
- “Food Forms” by Blanka Dominika Major, Severin Jann and Valentin Ribi, ETH Zürich.
- “Everything Remains the Same” by Fabian Moser, Niels Striby, Merve Simsek, Helene Merkle and Thomas Ederer, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Entertainment winners
- “Shakespeare’s Women” by Brock Keeler, University of Victoria.
- “Blood Wedding Reimagined” by Kane Hollingsworth, Nottingham Trent University.
- “Songs for a New World” by Martin Benesh, State University of New York at New Paltz.
- “Art exhibition ‘Lokhalle Mainz’” by Celina Rau, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen.
- “Francine Vasse Theater: Renovation of the Scenic Networks” by Pierre Pino, Gabriel Guist’hau College.
Interior design winners
- “Marylebone Proper Hotel” by Sara Riofrio, Solent University.
- “Vitra Stant Design” by Sila Şimşek and Edanaz Topaktaş, Hacettepe University.
- “Agricultural Childcare Center ‘Het Snuitje’” by Jannie Dircks, Jan des Bouvrie Academy – Saxion Deventer.
- “Pet Ceremony Hall” by Cai Rou Wang, Osaka University of Arts.
Landscape winners
- “Site, Sight, Insight” by Chui Shan Tsang, University College London.
- “Ingolstadt – On the Maelstrom into a Challenged Future” by Lea Jaud, University of Copenhagen.
- “Rising with the Phoenix: The Next Generation of Blue-Green Infrastructural Design in its Re-Integration with Social & Cultural Realms” by Lok Tim Chan, Cornell University.
- “Rain Park” by Marta Szar, University of Technology in Kraków.
- “Nature in a Grid – Transformation of a Ruin” by Simeon von Russow, Berlin University of Applied Sciences (BHT).
About Vectorworks academic offerings
Students and educators in some global markets can download a free educational license of Vectorworks Design Suite software, which includes all the capabilities of Architect, Landmark, and Spotlight. Its Braceworks, ConnectCAD, and Vision add-ons are also available for students and educators in the entertainment industry.
- To visit the Vectorworks Design Scholarship gallery and view all 22 winning designs, as well as projects from previous years, please click here.
- Learn more about the Vectorworks Design Scholarship judges please click here.
- To learn more about Vectorworks academic programs, including free software licenses for design students, please click here.
About Vectorworks, Inc.
Vectorworks, Inc. is design and BIM software provider. Its headquarters are in Columbia, Maryland, with offices in Australia, Canada and the UK. It serves the architecture, landscape architecture and entertainment industries in 85 countries. Vectorworks has around 685,000 users around the world. To learn more about Vectorworks, please click here.
Vectorworks is a part of the Nemetschek Group. To learn more about Nemetschek please click here.