World Architecture Festival

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony for the architecture industry. The first festivals was held in Barcelona in 2008, while since 2012 the festival was held in Singapore. At the festival around 200 shortlisted projects compete for awards in 31 categories. One of these projects is awarded the World Building of the Year title. All the entries are published in the World Buildings Directory online database and each year the World Architecture Festival publishes a list of the winners of the awards.

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." In the first four years the festival was held in Barcelona and since 2012 in Singapore. Several hundred projects are entered in the competition for the awards and more than 200 of these are shortlisted for live presentation at the festival. All the presentations of the entries are collected in the World Buildings Directory. The architects pay a submission fee to enter a project for a WAF Award and travel to where the festival is arranged to present the project live if it is shortlisted. The entries are voluntary and the festival does not control who submits projects. In 2011 the Inside Festival (for interior architecture and design) was added in the same venue and arranged at the same time as WAF.

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.

In 2008 the World Building of the Year was awarded to: Universita Luigi Bocconi, Italy (by Grafton Architects).

Gallery of some of the 2008 winners

New building with the Aula Magna In the background: 2008 'Building of the Year, Learning: Universita Luigi Bocconi, Italy, by Grafton Architects

...
Wikipedia