The most inspiring architectural projects from around the world are revealed today as the shortlist for the 2023 World Architecture Festival (WAF) is announced. This is ahead of the live event which this year will take place in Singapore, at Marina Bay Sands, from 29 November – 1 December.
WAF represents the world’s biggest live judged architectural awards programme, where all finalists present their projects to a panel of judges at the international festival.
Today’s shortlist celebrates the best new completed buildings and landscapes as well as the most inspiring future architectural concepts, across 33 categories, ranging from residential, to cultural, to creative re-use. Later this week (July 13) the Inside World Festival of Interiors shortlist will be announced; WAF’s sister awards programme celebrating the finest examples of global interior design, across eleven categories. The shortlist have been selected from over 800 entries, and comprise 495 projects from 333 unique practices.
This year’s finalists range from major world architects including Foster + Partners, UNStudio, Grimshaw Architects, MAD Architects, WilkinsonEyre, Safdie Architects and Nikken Sekkei, while many smaller practices will also be on stage, live pitching against the big names.
The international judging panel for this year’s awards consists of more than 140 industry experts, representing 43 countries, and will include Lily Jencks, Nigel Coates, Rafiq Azam, Albert Williamson-Taylor, Tracy Meller, Jason Bruges, Annette Fisher, Roland Schnizer and Issa Diabaté.
This year’s finalists span the globe, with the top ten shortlisted countries including China, Australia, United Kingdom, India, United States, Iran, Thailand, Singapore, Canada, and Japan.
On the final day of the festival, category winners from across all 44 category prizes will go head-to-head for the ultimate accolades of World Building of the Year, Landscape of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Interior of the Year. A host of Special Prizes, including WAFX, which celebrates imaginative cutting-edge designs addressing major world issues, will also be awarded to projects from the main shortlist.
WAF returns to Singapore for its 16th edition after the global community of architects and designers last met at Marina Bay Sands in 2015. This follows previous editions of the festival in Lisbon, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Berlin. In addition to the unique live-judged awards programme and crit presentations, this year’s event will include a live events programme and keynote talks from an international panel of speakers.
WAF programme director Paul Finch comments: “We are delighted with both the quantity and quality of this year’s entries. They are a reminder in a world experiencing numerous crises that architects continue to address both everyday and unusual challenges with skill and imagination. We look forward to seeing the shortlisted architects in Singapore.”
WAF and its co-located event, Inside World Festival of Interiors, will welcome the world’s leading architects and designers for three days of talks programmes, awards, exhibitions and fringe events, showcasing leading international practices, the best new projects, and most pressing live debates.
The full shortlist for this year’s completed buildings, future and landscape project awards can be viewed here.
For more details on the 2023 World Architecture Festival and the WAF Awards please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com @worldarchfest #WAF23 #INSIDE23
