WAF 2019 Shortlist Revealed

John Hill

5. July 2019

Safdie Architects' Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore, a finalist in the Transport - Completed Buildings category (Photo courtesy of Changi Airport Group)

The World Architecture Festival (WAF), which will be holding its 12th edition in Amsterdam in early December, has released the list of 534 shortlisted projects in 33 categories.

WAF, as many architects know by now, works like an architecture version of a dog show: Shortlisted architects present their projects to a jury in relevant categories (breeds), with the winners presenting their projects once again to a "super jury" that selects a building of the year (best in show). It seems that there are more projects — and categories (13 in Future Projects and 20 in Completed Buildings and Landscapes) — than any of the previous editions.

Striving to find some meaning among the hundreds of projects, a WAF press release aligns a few highlighted projects with the recently established Architects Declare, in which UK architects have signed a commitment that, among other things, announces a climate emergency. These shortlisted projects aligned with the commitment for a more positive future include Moshe Safdie's rainforest-capped mall at Changi Airport Singapore; BIG's Dortheavej Residence, an affordable, modular housing project in Copenhagen; Studio Gang's Solstice on the Park tower in Chicago, where glass walls are angled to the summer sun; and ALA Architects' Helsinki Central Library Oodi, an "almost zero-energy building with panoramic views," per WAF. Even without Architects Declare, these are impressive buildings that merit being shortlisted.

Visit WAF's website to see more of the shortlisted buildings or click the links below to see the projects in each category.

WAF Award Categories (Completed Buildings + Landscapes)