WAF Building of the Year

The chapel, a community space on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, was selected by the super jury* from the completed building category winners from Day One and Day Two. Designed for conferences, weddings and exhibitions, the chapel fills a void in the area, given a lack of community centers.

WAF Program Director Paul Finch said, "The judges felt this was a project that embraced history and modernity, and created a dialogue in the process. It has created maximum effect with minimum materials and has produced an unexpected change of pace in its urban context. The opportunity has been taken to recycle and rethink materials and site, and a series of design issues have been addressed which have produced a small project that makes a big statement. Color and light have been deployed to put people at ease and the architect has found poetry in the mundane."

*Super jury: Led by Richard Rogers (UK), with Rocco Yim (Hong Kong), Julie Eizenberg (USA), Enric Ruiz Geli (Spain) and Peter Rich (South Africa).