2014 Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest

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David Fox

David Fox has devoted his career to the study of architectural drawing. He has taught at the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design for 20 years and recently completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Krakow, Poland, where he focused on the relationship between analog drawing, digital design, and architectural pedagogy. His winning sketch was partially inspired by his experience designing a chapel as an employee in the practice of E. Fay Jones. However, the drawing also represents Fox’s belief that sketching and developing an architectural concept must come before computer modeling. “The poetry cannot be an afterthought or occur at a midpoint,” he tells his students. “It must originate from inception.”

Roland Escalona

Roland Escalona’s sketch was, without exaggeration, a lifetime in the making. “I grew up in Manila, the Philippines,” said Escalona, “where shanty housing is part of the landscape.” The memory of that landscape stayed with the young architect and was the subject of his B.Arch. senior thesis at the University of Southern California. The idea for the sketch struck him when he came across his old thesis and reimagined that dense landscape using the meticulous precision of photographic mosaic, one of his artistic hobbies. Escalona recounts that “the image of shanty living was stuck in my mind.” But now that landscape has been distilled by hand for us to interpret.  

RTKL Associates

Our jury was consistently impressed by the quality and creativity of the sketches submitted by designers at RTKL Associates in Los Angeles.   

Submissions from Registered Architects

Though they didn't win the top prize, these napkins were nevertheless noteworthy. 

Submissions from Non-Registered Designers.

Though they didn't win the top prize, these napkins were nevertheless noteworthy.