Check out the 2011 winners, runner-ups, and a few of the most creative entries from the annual Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest.
Winner, Registered Architect - Zeljko Toncic, AIA, Archiect, Rizvi Architects, Boston, MA
Napkin Sketch Title: Antonio Gaudi's Casa Milà
The prize for the best-in-show cocktail napkin sketch by a professional goes to Zeljko Toncic for his drawing of Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Milà, in Barcelona. The jury found it to be quirkily evocative of the 1910 landmark. Toncic, who has practiced for 33 years, says he has sketched the building before but this was the first time he dealt with the difficult medium of the cocktail napkin. “The paper is so soft and absorbs ink readily that maintaining control is tricky,” he notes. “I was trying to capture the essence of the structure without going into extreme detail.”
Winner, Non-Registered Architect - Amanda D. Prosser, M. Arch Graduate, 2010, Kansas State University, Topeka, KS
Napkin Sketch Title: Notre Dame du Haut
The winning cocktail napkin sketch by a nonprofessional was drawn by Amanda Prosser, who received her M.Arch. from Kansas State University. With jobs in architecture so scarce, she currently works for a life insurance firm. The jury found Prosser’s sketch of Notre Dame du Haut, Le Corbusier’s famous chapel at Ronchamp, France (1954), to exhibit a startling economy and elegance of line. When Prosser visited Ronchamp as a student, she drew the building in a sketchbook with her eyes closed. “Back in Topeka, I decided to see if I could do it on a cocktail napkin with an extra-fine black ballpoint pen,” she says. “I did it again without opening my eyes.”
Runner-Up, Registered - Gregory L. Klosowski, Architect, Ellipis, A+D, Alameda, CA
Runner-Up, Registered - Hirotaka Hayakawa, Architect, Cooper, Robertson & Partners, New York, NY
Runner-Up, Registered - Tony Costello, Architect, Costello + Associates, Muncie, IN
Runner-Up, Non-Registered - Brodie Stephens, General Counsel, Perkins + Will, San Francisco, CA
Runner-Up, Non-Registered - Kyle Reis, Planner, Cooper Carry, Atlanta, GA
Hors de Concur - Scott Grove, Creative Director, Smith + Associates, Rochester, NY
Contestants were asked to submit sketches on a 5-inch-square cocktail napkin, a stipulation that many blithely ignored. But Record’s jury stuck by the rules—with one exception: a tiny, delicate model of a church by Scott Grove (an artist) in which the cocktail napkin was made to act like balsa wood. Record created an “hors de concour” (out of the running) award. We couldn’t resist it.
Off Beat - Carol Hsiung, Architect, FWFOWLE Architects, New York, NY
Madcap entries from this year's contest included a series of plays-on-words, portraits, and new conceptualizations of notable monuments. A series of highlights from those submissions follows.
Off Beat - John E. Quinton, Jr., Vice President, BRR Architecture, Merriam, KS
Off Beat - Vlad Zadneprianski, Project Manager, TPG Architecture, New York, NY
Ronchamp - Christine Williams, Student, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
We received a number of sketches of Le Corbusier's acclaimed Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France (1954). Here is a selection of those napkins, all of which shed new light on this classic Modern landmark.
Ronchamp - Philip M. Donovan, Architect, VMDO Architects, Charlottesville, VA
Ronchamp - John David Wagner, Student, Virginia Tech, Charlotte, NC
Ronchamp - Tanya Davis, Designer, Fennell Design, Rapid City, SD
Ronchamp - Robert V. Bunda, Director of Architecture, Walgreens, Inc., Deerfield, IL
Ronchamp - Damon Dusterhoft, Architect, LPA Inc., Orange, CA
Ronchamp - Carol Hsiung, Architect, FWFOWLE Architects, New York, NY