WAFX 2021 Prize Winners: World Architecture Festival Awards News, Architects, Buildings

WAFX 2021 Winners: World Architecture Festival Awards

5 July 2021

WAFX 2021 Prize Winners Announced

Prizes awarded to 12 future projects addressing today’s major global challenges

5th of July 2021 – Twelve big-picture architectural initiatives addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges have won the first of this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards. The 2021 WAFX Awards celebrate project proposals from across the world tackling today’s global issues, ranging from pandemic control and the climate emergency, to social equity, cultural identity, aging populations, and food supply.

The WAFX Award winners are all selected from entries to the Future Projects category in the WAF Awards Programme, for their ambition and scope. This year’s category winners include a fast installation modular hospital for epidemic prevention, a floating eco-campus off Manhattan island, a grand prototype smart transportation city from Bjarke Ingles and Toyota, a zero-carbon office development in central London, the world’s first high-rise data centre in Shanghai, and a new eco-tourism typology at Cagbalete Island, Philippines.

WeThePlanet Campus, New York City, USA, design by 3deluxe, Germany:
WeThePlanet Campus Manhattan
images courtesy of architects practice

View a selection of images of the WAFX Award winners here.

Live interviews with the 12 WAFX Awards winners will take place at WAF Futures, a free-to-view virtual event taking place from 12-14 July 2021, sponsored by GROHE. After presenting their project each winner will be in conversation with a specially selected guest, a studio panel including: esteemed architect Alison Brooks; Founding Partner of Ash Sakula Architects Cany Ash; Head of Architecture at Royal Academy Vicky Richardson, and more. The overall WAFX winner will be announced at the 2021 World Architecture Festival which returns this year as a physical event, taking place in Lisbon for the first time, from 1-3 December.

Westlake University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, East China, design by HENN:
Westlake University in Hangzhou

Paul Finch, Director of the World Architecture Festival, comments: “This year’s WAFX winners feature an inspiring set of ideas and approaches in respect of many of the major issues of our time. From all-wood offices to conceptual projects combining nature with the man-made, architects have once again shown how design can be deployed to tackle challenges and investigate opportunities.”

The shortlist of the WAF Future Projects Award supported by ABB, also announced today, will also be under discussion at WAF Futures, at a session on 12 July with WAF Director Paul Finch, WAF Curator Jeremy Melvin, and members of the guest studio panel. Representatives of over 180 finalist projects from 40 countries will go on to compete live in front of a judging panel at WAF in December to decide the winner of each of the Future Project categories, ranging from Office, Residential, Education and Health to Culture, Leisure and Experimental. The overall best future project will also be judged and announced at the Lisbon event. Competing practices include Eric Parry Architects, SHoP, WilkinsonEyre, Bates Smart and AHMM.

View the WAF Future Project Award shortlist

To register for a free WAF Future event ticket please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com/wafutures-registration. The event runs in conjunction with WasteBuild, an event for the international construction industry dedicated to the new circular built environment, which takes place on the same virtual platform from 15-16 July.

For more details on the 2021 World Architecture Festival and sister event Inside Festival of Interiors please visit www.worldarchitecturefestival.com and www.insidefestival.com.

The WAFX 2021 Category Prize Winners are:

Ageing winner
‘Taikang Community Gui Garden’ by Sunlay

Taikang Community Gui Garden by Sunlay

This design concept originates from the local natural landscape and culture of the Guangxi region, China, known for its mountainous terrain, rivers and stunning rice terraces. It uses modern design techniques to reinterpret the landscape of picturesque villages, to create an ideal natural living environment for elderly communities, including residential accommodation, medical care, an activity centre, and support for independent living.

Climate, Energy & Carbon winner
‘Paradise, London’ by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Paradise, London by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios:
Paradise, London by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Paradise will transform a disused site in south London, UK, into 60,000sqft of net carbon zero work and maker space. The landmark timber-framed building will have an exposed cross-laminated timber structure and natural light and ventilation. Designed to be future flexible, and low energy in use, it’s also designed with an easily disassembled structure as part of its end-of-life strategy. The proposal is on target for almost 60 years of a negative carbon footprint.

Construction Technology winner
‘Museum for Architecture + Residences’ by Sou Fujimoto Architects

Museum for Architecture + Residences by Sou Fujimoto Architects

The condominium tower, including a museum for architecture, is based on traditional Bahay Kubo huts, reinterpreted in a bamboo grid-like structure, and intertwined with natural fauna to create an evolving vertical forest. The concept-driven design is a vertical extrusion of the rice fields that once covered the project site in Laguna, Philippines.

Cultural Identity winner
‘Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi’ by Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi, UAE

Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi, UAE

The UAE’s National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners, tells the story of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the United Arab Emirates, and showcases the country’s history, cultural heritage and recent social and economic transformation. The highly efficient, contemporary form is combined with traditional Arabic design and hospitality.

Digital Technology winner
‘Shenzhen Qianhai Telecommunication Centre’ by Schneider+Schumacher International GmbH

Shenzhen Qianhai Telecommunication Centre by Schneider+Schumacher International GmbH

This telecommunications centre in Shenzhen, China, is destined to become the world’s first high-rise data centre. Its lower floors will relate to the tower’s urban surroundings and the public life of the city, while the top floor will feature a large terrace for IT workers, offering daylight and views of the city and the bay. The lively façade reflects the building’s computational theme and incorporates interactive elements that move with the wind.

Ethics & Values winner
‘#WeThePlanet Campus’ by 3deluxe

WeThePlanet Campus Manhattan

This mobile, floating green platform off the Manhattan shoreline is designed for convening international summits, workshops and educational programmes which focus on transforming our world for a better future. The fluid, organic design concept responds to the natural elements surrounding it, water, sun and wind, and the biotope is designed to give as much as it takes from nature, while generating its own energy and drinking water.

Food winner
‘Cagbalete Sand Clusters’ by Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc.

Cagbalete Sand Clusters by Carlo Calma Consultancy

This proposal for a new sustainable eco-tourism typology at Cagbalete Island, Philippines,
is designed to bring an uplift to local farming and fishing industries, including mud crab farming. The mixed-use development is designed to mix farming and leisure, including a farm-to-table restaurant focusing on local plants and produce. It is constructed from a prefabricated unit system inspired by the areas’ corals, made from a membrane of fishing nets, sand and soil.

Health winner
‘The Deformable Modularized COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention Hospital, Shanghai’ by School of Architecture & Design, China University of Mining and Technology

Deformable Modularized COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention Hospital, Shanghai

This fast installation modular hospital is designed as a rapid response solution to large-scale infectious diseases such as SARS and COVID-19. The scheme takes the modular isolation ‘ward’ as the core module, and ‘treatment’, ‘office’, and ‘cleaning’ as auxiliary modules, allowing for the rapid construction of hospitals of different combinations and sizes. The scheme is designed to be easy to store, transport, construct, and adapt when it reaches end of use.

Re-use winner
‘Silo City’ by STUDIO V Architecture

Silo City by STUDIO V Architecture

Silo City is a design vision for the reuse of the largest collection of grain elevators in the world, transforming a 1,000,000 sq. ft site on the Buffalo River, New York, into an arts and cultural campus. Silo City will accommodate both grass roots and internationally renowned institutions and artists, supported by sustainable development including commercial, residential and hospitality that grow out of the themes, architecture, and history of the site.

Smart Cities winner
‘Toyota Woven City’ by B.I.G. Architecture D.P.C.

Toyota Woven City by B.I.G. Architecture D.P.C.

Toyota Woven City is the world’s first urban incubator dedicated to the advancement of all aspects of mobility at the foothills of Mount Fuji in Japan. With a primary street optimised for faster, autonomous vehicles, a recreational promenade for micro-mobility types such as bicycles and scooters and a linear park dedicated to pedestrians, flora and fauna, it aims to bring equality to different forms of travel, and create safer, pedestrian-friendly connections.

Social Equity winner
‘A Resilient Duplex for Fort Severn First Nation’ by Two Row Architect and KPMB Architects

A Resilient Duplex for Fort Severn First Nation

This housing typology is based on close consultation with Fort Severn First Nation, the northernmost community in Ontario, accessible only by air and ice road. The durable, easily transportable construction system is designed to help elders live independently in the community for longer, while also providing units for young families, who often end up living in overcrowded conditions with parents and siblings for lack of other options.

Water winner
‘Horizon Manila’ by William Ti, Jr.

Horizon Manila by William Ti, Jr.

Horizon Manila is a 419-hectare masterplan designed to serve as a new hub for growth and development for the Philippines’ capital. The new district is composed of three islands bisected by a 4km canal park, creating many different waterside neighbourhoods, gardens and urban parks, to allow for a diverse, and permeable urban environment to evolve.

2021 World Architecture Festival Awards

About WAF Futures
WAF Futures, sponsored by GROHE, takes place online (on Swapcard) from 12-14 July 2021 free-to-view for all architects and design professionals, WAF Futures will include a programme of architectural content showcasing solutions from WAFX prize winners which tackle some of the biggest issues facing the world. The winning designs will cover Climate, Energy and carbon; Water; Food; Ageing; Health; Re-use; Smart cities; Construction technology; Cultural identity; Ethics and values; Social Equity; and Digital technology. The WAF Futures week will also feature WAF category shortlist announcements from the main WAF Awards programme, comprising 44 categories covering completed buildings, interiors, future projects, and landscape, and live interviews with the winners of the WAFX Awards.

WAF Futures is co-located with WasteBuild which takes place online from 15-16 July 2021, the must-attend event for the international construction industry to be inspired, meet new contacts and to win business in the new circular built environment sector. It is focussed on showcasing circular and regenerative solutions for the built environment and practical and scalable solutions to help reduce embodied carbon.

About World Architecture Festival (WAF)
World Architecture Festival and INSIDE World Festival of Interiors will take place at the FIL exhibition centre, Lisbon, on the 1-3 December 2021.

WAF is where the world architecture community meets to celebrate, learn, exchange and be inspired.

WAF is the world’s largest annual, international, live architectural event. It includes the biggest international architectural awards programme in the world, dedicated to celebrating excellence via live presentations to an audience of high-profile delegates and international juries.

The 2021 World Architecture Festival (WAF) comprises:

– A thematic conference programme (based on the theme ‘Greening the City’)
– Electronic gallery of all Award entries
– Exhibition area
– Live judging of finalists’ projects
– Networking and social events including partner fringe events
– Winners’ Dinner

INSIDE World Festival of Interiors runs alongside WAF, with its own awards and conference programme. Delegates have access to both events.

WAF and INSIDE are organised by EMAP, publishers of The Architectural Review and The Architects’ Journal.

Sponsors:

WAF is proud to work with all valued partners including Founder Partner, GROHE, and headline partners ABB and Miele.

About GROHE:
GROHE is a leading global brand for complete bathroom solutions and kitchen fittings. GROHE is headquartered in Germany has been part of the LIXIL Group Corporation since 2014. Our products combine award-winning design with the most sophisticated technologies and the highest-quality materials.

As the founder sponsor of the World Architecture Festival, we are proud to support this important event for the twelfth consecutive year. In addition to presenting our latest collections, we’ll be offering complimentary food and drinks every day, making the GROHE stand an ideal rendezvous and networking point during the event. If you’re arriving straight from the airport, enjoy a light breakfast on the GROHE stand with our compliments. We have invited many leading developers and GROHE partners to enjoy this annual spectacle of architecture and we are sure they would enjoy meeting the crème de la crème of the industry on our stand.

Pass by our stand this year and be the first to see the unveiling of our latest collections at the Festival. GROHE will present our first 3D metal-printed faucets combining cutting-edge technology with spectacular design, together with our Essence Colors and water filtering solutions called GROHE Blue Home turning tap water into fresh water.

As in previous years, GROHE is sponsoring World Building of the Year Award that will be presented at the end of the Gala Dinner. GROHE is also sponsoring the awards for the categories Hotel and Leisure, Housing and Residential.

If you’re presenting a project at the Festival, we wish you the very best of luck!

About ABB
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader with a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years. Today ABB focuses on digital industries with four customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion and Robotics/Discrete Automation, supported by its common ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees.

Within the electrification business ABB´s German daughter Busch-Jaeger Elektro is one of the world´s leading suppliers of electrical solutions for the building sector and its expertise can be found proven in numerous hotels, condominiums, offices, retail-, public-, cultural- and residential buildings around the globe.

Solutions provided include the whole range of products: from innovative, design oriented wiring accessories to the control of building-functions via touch panels, smart-phones, – tablets as well as voice control.

The ABB Busch-Jaeger portfolio stands for maximizing the comfort and safety in buildings for building users and minimizing energy consumption and overall ecological footprint.
ABB´s “Mission to ZERO” campaign 2019/20 draws worldwide attention to ABB´s cutting edge technological portfolio.

About Miele
Miele is held in high esteem as the world’s leading manufacturer of premium appliances for cooking, laundry care and floorcare. Miele also make dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as appliances for the reprocessing of medical instruments and laboratory equipment (“Miele Professional”). With its own sales companies or importers Miele is represented in about 100 countries.

The Miele company, founded in 1899, has eight production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2017/18 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 4.1 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 20,100, 11,200 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.

WAFX 2021: World Architecture Festival Awards image / information received 050721

Previously on e-architect:

World Architecture Festival Goes Virtual

WAFVirtual: World Architecture Festival 2020
image : Ben van Berkel of UNStudio and Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang
World Architecture Festival Virtual

WAF 2020 Architecture Drawing Prize

World Architecture Festival
Anton Markus Pasing, City in a box: paradox memories
Anton Markus Pasing, City in a box: paradox memories, overall winner of the 2019 Architecture Drawing Prize
WAF 2020 Architecture Drawing Prize

WAF Awards Archive

World Architecture Festival 2019 Shortlist News
World Architecture Festival 2019 Shortlist

2019 Architecture Drawing Prize
World Architecture Festival 2019 Architecture Drawing Prize
Li Han, ‘The Samsara of Building No. 42 on Dirty Street’, overall winner of the 2018 Architecture Drawing Prize
World Architecture Festival 2019 Drawing Prize

World Architecture Festival Awards 2018 Day One Winners

WAF Awards 2018

Stirling Prize

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