Storytelling: Olson Kundig scoops first prize in Fairy Tales competition

An Olson Kundig team, headed by Alan Maskin, has just won the first prize on the third annual Fairy Tales competition, the storytelling and illustrating international contest organised by the online architecture platform Blank Space. 

Entrants are asked to both write their own stories and create the most skilful, lavish artwork to accompany them. The competition received over 1,500 entries, with the Olson Kundig team (comprised by Alan Maskin, Jerome Tryon, Kevin Scott, Gabriela Frank & Katie Miller) being revealed as the top winner; Hagai Ben Naim was awarded second place, and Kobi Logendrarajah, third.

The Seattle-based practice, which is celebrated for its thoughtful work that spans scales and typologies, scooped the coveted prize with a fairy tale called ’Welcome to the Fifth Façade’.  

The judging panel includes key names such as Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director of the Serpentine Galleries; Elizabeth Diller, Founding Partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro; and Aaron Betsky, Dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. 

’Those who submitted to the competition are not only impressively talented, they are courageous innovators that have pushed the envelope of architecture as we know it,’ say Blank Space founders Matthew Hoffman and Francesca Giuliani. ’These are the most important topics for architecture to address, and they have the power to reshape the business of architecture, its priorities, and its future direction.’

The winning entries, honourable mentions and other notable submissions, will all be featured in the third volume of ’Fairy Tales: When Architecture Tells a Story’, designed by Bruce Mau Design.