The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an architectural and design event held annually and considered to be one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industries. It was founded by Paul Finch and Jeremy Melvin for the purpose of showcasing and exhibiting architectural projects and is the world's largest annual architectural event. It is the only architecture festival that combines a live–judged awards programme, where shortlisted architects present their projects live in crit rooms to a judging panel, with seminars and networking events. One of these projects is then awarded the 'World Building of the Year' title.
History The World Architecture Festival was first held in 2008 as a "festival and live awards competition dedicated to celebrating and sharing architectural excellence from across the globe". The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which point the festival moved to Singapore for four years. Since 2016, host cities have included Berlin and Amsterdam.
Awards Programme
Over a thousand projects are entered in the competition for the awards each year and more than 550 of these are shortlisted for live presentation at the festival. The architects pay a submission fee to enter a Future Project or a Completed Building project and travel to where the festival is arranged to present the shortlisted project live to a jury panel. The entries are voluntary and the festival does not control who submits projects. In 2011, the sister event INSIDE Festival (for interior architecture and design) was added in the same venue and arranged at the same time as WAF.
WAF maintains the World Buildings Directory as an official listing of all past and present projects entries to festivals.
Award Categories Entries can be submitted to the following award categories – Completed Building, Future Project, Landscape or Inside.
COMPLETED Completed Buildings - Civic and Community Completed Buildings - Creative Re-use Completed Buildings - Culture Completed Buildings - Display Completed Buildings - Health Completed Buildings - Higher Education and Research Completed Buildings - Hotel and Leisure Completed Buildings - House and Villa Completed Buildings - Housing Completed Buildings - Mixed-Use Completed Buildings - Retrofit Completed Buildings - Office Completed Buildings - Production, Energy and Logistics Completed Buildings - Religion Completed Buildings - School Completed Buildings - Shopping Completed Buildings - Sport Completed Buildings - Transport FUTURE Future Projects - Civic Future Projects - Commercial Mixed-Use Future Projects - Competition Entries Future Projects - Culture Future Projects - Education Future Projects - Experimental Future Projects - Health Future Projects - House Future Projects - Infrastructure Future Projects - Leisure-led Development Future Projects - Masterplanning Future Projects - Office Future Projects - Residential LANDSCAPE INSIDE (Interiors Category) Inside - Bars and Restaurants Inside - Education Inside - Health and Fitness Inside - Hotels Inside - Public Buildings Inside - Residential (housing, more than one dwelling) Inside - Residential (single dwelling) Inside - Retail Inside - Temporary/Meanwhile uses Inside - Workplace (Large) Inside - Workplace (Small) SPECIAL PRIZES Best Use of Natural Light Best Use of Stone Sustainability Prize Best Use of Colour Best Use of Timber Small Project of the Year ADDITIONAL PRIZES The GROHE Water Prize Student Charette
Award winners
Each year the World Architecture Festival publishes a list of the winners of the awards on their official website.
Annual Festivals WAF organises an annual architectural and design event for architects, designers and suppliers to gather together and celebrate, learn and discover. It provides an opportunity for architects to present their projects and ideas, highlighting innovative design solutions, sustainable practices, and cultural diversity in architecture. The festival aims to promote architectural innovation, recognize outstanding projects, and stimulate meaningful and impactful conversations about the future and processes of the built environments.
The 2008 festival
The World Architecture Festival was held for the first time on 22–24 October 2008 in Barcelona. Its programme director was Paul Finch. An important part of the festival was the awards programme. The competition was open to building completed within the past 18 months, between January 1, 2007 and June 20, 2008. There were 722 entries competing in 17 categories, comprising 96 building types from 63 countries. After a preselection, 224 projects from 43 countries have been shortlisted. All the shortlisted architects presented their work during the festival and the winners competed for the top award, the World Building of the Year. The judging panel was headed by Norman Foster and included Stefan Behnisch, Robert Stern and Zaha Hadid among the 40 architects on the panel. 1,900 visitors from 70 countries attended the festival.Olivia McDowell:World Architecture Festival in The Sepcifier , retrieved 22 October 2010
In 2008, the World Building of the Year was awarded to: Bocconi University, Italy (by Grafton Architects).
Gallery of some of the 2008 winners
The 2009 festival The second World Architecture Festival took place in Barcelona at the Centre Convencions International Barcelona (CCIB) on November 4 to 6 2009. Projects from 67 countries participated in the competition. 272 projects were shortlisted, in 15 categories. A jury of architects and industry figures from around the world judged the competition's 45 Awards. The winners of the 15 categories of completed buildings competed for the Building of the Year Award. In addition to the categories from the 2008 festival three new sections were added: Interiors and Fit-out, Structural Design and Future Projects. In 2009, 1,507 architects from 71 countries came to Barcelona for the festival.
Awards 2009 World Building of the Year (Category: Culture, Completed Buildings ) Mapungubwe Interpretation Center in South Africa by Peter Rich ArchitectsAward winner: World Building of the Year and winner of category culture: Future Project of the Year (Category: Cultural, Future Projects ) Spanish Pavilion for 2010 Expo Shanghai in China by Miralles Tagliabue EMBTAward winner: Future Project of the Year and winner of category Cultural : Interiors and Fit Out Overall Winner (Category: Interiors and Fit Out - Retail (small) ) Corian Super-Surfaces Showroom in Italy, Milano by Architect Amanda Levete ArchitectsAward winner category Interiors and Fit Out - Retail (small): Structural Design of the Year (Category: Structural Design - Spans (e.g. bridges, stadiums, big sheds) ) Arena Zagreb in Croatia, by Zagrebby Architect UPI-2MAward winner category Structural Design - Spans (eg bridges, stadiums, big sheds) : Student design competition (Category: Student design competition: Distressed Cities, Creative Responses ) AECOM Design + Planning Urban SOS in India, Mumbai by Sabrina Kleinenhammans, a graduate at MITAward winner category Student design competition:
Gallery of some of the 2009 winners
The 2010 festival
The third World Architecture festival took place in Barcelona at the CCIB Forum (Centro de Convenciones Internacionales de Barcelona) November 3 to 5 2010. The festival was the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in 2010. More than 500 entries from 65 countries competed in 15 main categories and in over 20 further sections. The festival had 5 awards sections, 42 categories and more than 100 types of buildings. The competition was open for entries on April 2 to July 9 and the shortlist was announced in late August. The shortlisted projects were presented at the festival.
Awards 2010 World Building of the Year and winner of category culture (Category: Culture ) MAXXI, National Museum of XXI Century Arts in Italy, Rome by Zaha Hadid ArchitectsAward winner category Culture: Future Project of the Year (Category: Masterplanning, Future Projects ) The Arc in Palestinian Territory, Occupied by Suisman Urban DesignAward winner category Masterplanning, Future Projects: Interiors and Fit Out Overall Winner (Category: Interiors and Fit Out - Offices ) ANZ Centre in Australia, Melbourne by HassellAward winner category Interiors and Fit Out Overall Winner: Structural Design of the Year (Category: Structural Design - Glass (where used structurally) ) Medieval & Renaissance Galleries in United Kingdom, London by MUMAAward winner category Structural Design - Glass (where used structurally) : Student design competition (Category: Student design competition): Campus Catalyst Project AECOM Design + Planning Urban SOSin Haiti, Port-au-Prince by Robin Bankert, Michael Murphy, Robin Bankert, Michael Murphy, Caroline Shannon and Joseph Wilfong, University of HarvardAward winner category Student design competition: Campus Catalyst Project: The Art and Work Award for Buildings Designed to Display Art (Category: Structural Design - Glass (where used structurally) ) Medieval & Renaissance Galleries in United Kingdom, London by MUMAAward winner category Structural Design - Glass (where used structurally): Press release posted 05/11/10: ONCE Foundation Award for Accessibility (Two joint winners) (Category: Sport ) Aviva Stadium in Ireland, Dublinby Populous in association with Scott Tallon WalkerAward winner category Sport : ONCE Foundation Award for Accessibility (Two joint winners) (Category: Civic and community, Health) West Vancouver Community Centre in Canada, West Vancouver by Hughes Condon Marler ArchitectsAward winner category Civic and community, Health :
Gallery of some of the 2010 winners
The 2011 festival
The fourth World Architecture Festival (WAF) was held in Barcelona from November 2 to 4, 2011, at Centre de Convencions Internacional de Catalunya. More than 700 projects were entered for the competition. More than 1,300 people attended the awards ceremony. The competition opened for entries on April 1 and closed on June 30, 2011. In 2011 Michael Sorkin, Ben van Berkel, Jo Noero, Odile Decq and Professor Kongjian Yu, and Tim MacFarlane were members of the jury. The opening night was held inMedia-ICT (by Cloud 9) which was later to win the World Building of the Year Award. The World Building of the Year was elected from the 16 completed buildings winning their category.
Awards 2011 World Building of the Year (Category: Office (inc mixed use) ) Media-ICT in Spain, Barcelona by Cloud 9Award winner: World Building of the Year and winner of category Office (inc mixed use): Future Project of the Year (Category: Infrastructure, Future Projects ) Hanimaadhoo International Airport in Maldives by Integrated Design Associates LimitedAward winner category Infrastructure, Future Projects: Structural Design of the Year (Category: Structural Design - Towers ) Eight Spruce Street in United States of America by Gehry Partners, LLPAward winner category Structural Design - Towers: ONCE Foundation Award for Accessibility (Category: Culture ) Museum of Memory and Tolerance in Mexico, Mexico City by Arditti+RDT/arquitectosAward winner category Culture: People's Choice Award, by OpenBuildings (Category: Culture ) Memorial house Todor Proeski in Macedonia, Krushevoby Syndicate studioAward winner: People's Choice Award, by OpenBuildings and category Culture:
Gallery of some of the 2011 winners
The 2012 festival
The fifth World Architecture Festival (WAF) was moved to Singapore at Marina Bay Sands and was held from October 3 to 5 2012. The festival awards was nicknamed «The Architectural Oscars» at the time. The World Architecture Festival was at the time the world's largest global architectural awards programme. Paul Finch was director of the festival.