Chris Henderson Drawing Prize won by Zoë Rees

It was a real pleasure to visit the School of Architecture at Portsmouth University this week to present The Chris Henderson Drawing Prize. The prize is awarded annually in honour of our founder and is now in its fourth year. Chris was such a natural communicator and for me that’s an important influence on the award; the skill of communication through the drawn medium. Technology has given us the tools to envisage and model complicated and wonderful spaces, but isn’t there something wonderful in seeing the creative spark linking the designer’s brain to eye to hand that deserves to be cherished? The entries this year were particularly strong and this year’s winner Zoë Rees demonstrated real skill in hand drawing as well as an inventiveness, using fabric and stitching to communicate her ideas. Congratulations to Zoë and also well done to the highly commended runner-up entries from Adele Miller, Audu Akange, Kazia MacSherry, Vasilena Bocheva and Nathaniel Morse.