The international event celebrating the best in innovative architectural creations, as well as buildings, landscape designs, and interiors worldwide, had the theme "Catalyst" for the year 2023. Projects selected in line with this theme were rewarded for their ability to interact with the built environment, effectively manage and accelerate this interaction, and inspire. These projects were evaluated based on their positive contributions to the visionary transformation parameters of architecture and design, focusing on their roles as catalysts for change.
The WAF 2023 international jury consists of over 140 industry experts from 43 countries. Notable names among them include Lily Jencks, Nigel Coates, Rafiq Azam, Albert Williamson-Taylor, Tracy Meller, Jason Bruges, Annette Fisher, Roland Schnizer, and Issa Diabaté. The 44 winners were selected by the jury from 495 projects presented by 333 architectural firms from around the world that made it to the shortlist. The jury also awarded 20 commendation prizes. The "Taiwan - Reyhanli Centre for World Citizens" project, designed by Studio Cho and implemented by the Taiwanese government for Syrian refugees in Hatay, received an award in the "Completed Buildings - Civil Society" category.
In addition to the announcement of the winners and the award ceremony, WAF 2023 includes a series of conferences and roundtable meetings featuring 76 speakers. Sessions reflecting the "Catalyst" theme focus on the role of architecture in catalyzing significant changes that can positively impact the environment and people's lives. We have compiled the winning category champions at the 2023 World Architecture Festival (WAF) for you!
2023 World Architecture Festival (WAF) category winners for you!
Located in Jiangbei District, Ningbo City, this project, a 30-classroom boarding high school, is described as a bold exploration of campus design. The project aims to create a campus where time can be seriously "wasted" even in an "efficiency-first" education model. Therefore, in this project, the school is transformed into a composite entity of campus and park. The "school" in charge of teaching is allowed to offer the most efficient and compact situation as possible, so that the "park" creates a place where students can seriously "waste time". The boarding school campus forms a 'floating forest' with classrooms suspended at each corner of the forest and connected by meandering paths.
The main proposal of the project is to reuse old water towers as an adaptable and climate change-positive system, especially for cities in the developing world. The Water Towers reflect the first generation of infrastructures that capture and raise water to pressurize it for delivery to the surrounding neighborhood. At the center of the tower is a large algal bioreactor tank that absorbs carbon dioxide from local sources.
19 Waterloo Street by SJB in Australia playfully interacts with the street through its Jacques Tati-style facade of recycled and broken bricks and geometry that organizes openings.
The last of the four main categories, Landscape Design of the Year, was awarded to Transforming a Brownfield into an Urban Ecological Sanctuary in Thailand. The project transforms the site of a former tobacco factory into a low-maintenance regenerative system that intercepts and reduces the destructive power of rainwater, filters polluted water, and establishes a resilient, living ecosystem.
https://www.worldarchitecturefestival.com/worldarchitecturefestival2024/en/page/home
https://www.theplan.it/eng/whats_on/waf-2023-winners
https://www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com/entries/huizhen-high-school/
https://www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com/entries/the-probiotic-tower-cairo/
https://www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com/entries/19-waterloo-street-2/
