World Architecture Festival - Barcelona 22-24 October 2008

Posted by JJ on Wednesday, July 30, 2008

224 projects from 43 countries, including four projects in Singapore, have been shortlisted for the inaugural World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards, the global architectural awards programme which compares and contrasts buildings completed within the past 18 months.

Among the projects selected are Henderson Waves, a pedestrian bridge commissioned by the Government of Singapore (designed by IJP Corporation), and Changi International Airport Terminal 3 (Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill LLP).

An expert panel of judges selected the shortlist from 722 entries from 63 countries worldwide. The UK, USA, Australia and Mexico submitted the highest number of entries to the Awards, whilst emerging markets such as China, Russia and India have strong representation on the shortlist. Buildings by internationally renowned architects such as Zaha Hadid Architects, Skidmore Owings Merrill, Kohn Pederson Fox, Nikken Sekkei, Denton Corker Marshall and Foster & Partners as well as smaller practices are represented among the shortlisted projects submitted in 17 different categories.

A public toilet in Texas (designed by Miro Rivera Architects), a fire station in Mexico City (bgp arquitectura), a doctor’s surgery designed with help from the elders of a Nova Scotia tribe (Piskwepaq Design Inc), a women’s health centre in Burkina Faso (FAREstudio) and a Christian church in Beijing (WSP) are among the shortlisted projects competing with cutting edge airports, museums and Olympic stadia.

All shortlisted architects will present their work live to juries and audiences during the World Architecture Festival, over three days, from 22 - 24 October 2008 at the Centre Convencions Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB). On the final day the winners of each category will compete to win the top award, the World Building of the Year 2008, the industry’s ultimate accolade,

Headed by Lord (Norman) Foster, the international judging panels will comprise architects, allied professionals, clients and critics.

Paul Finch, Editor of The Architectural Review and Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival, said: “The global construction market is currently worth over £2.3 trillion ($4.7 trillion) and at any one time hundreds of thousands of buildings are on the drawing board or under construction. This shortlist provides a true indicator of the quality and diversity of architectural design worldwide. Each of the shortlisted projects has been selected for its aesthetic quality as well as for the way in which it takes the economic, social and environmental needs of the clients and communities into consideration. Any of them could win, irrespective of their scale.”

“There is also a significant number of schemes on the shortlist which have been designed by architects from other countries, demonstrating the truly global nature of architecture as a profession,” added Finch.

Click here to go to the website.