World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2016

From November 16-18, 2016, more than 2,000 architects, manufacturers of materials and accessories, and journalists gathered in Berlin for the World Architecture Festival (WAF). WAF is an annual, international event organized by EMAP (East Midland Allied Press) - a British press trust whose portfolio includes Architectural Review and Architects' Journal - where awards are presented for excellence in architecture. Over the three days, visitors can attend presentations of projects entered in the competition, lectures by internationally renowned architects, discussions on architectural books and films, or presentations of products of interest to architects. Now in its ninth year, the event was themed Housing for everyone.

WAF rewards architectural projects submitted by participants (architects or beneficiaries with the consent of the architect), recently ^completed1 or in the process of being completed, for a fee. This year, the competition was divided into three categories, which in turn had several sections, depending on the architectural program: Completed Buildings with 17 sections, Future Projects with 12 sections, and Lanscape with 2 sections. The section winners competed for World Architecture of the Year , Future Project of the Year and Landscape of the Year respectively.

In total 343 projects from 58 countries were nominated, signed by architects from 42 countries. The highest number of projects came from British architects, followed by those from Turkey and ^Australia2. Romania had only one representative: Andreescu & Gaivoronschi, with the City Business Centre in Timișoara.

In the Completed Buildings category , in the Individual Housing section, the MM house in Palma de Mallorca, by OHLAB/ Oliver Hernaiz Architecture Lab, an architectural office with branches in Palma de Mallorca, Madrid and New York, was awarded. The project was praised for its ability to combine the requirements of passive housing with a sophisticated morphology.

The Collective Housing section was won by the Aluminum Tip building, built in Paris and designed by the Paris-based Babin+Renaud. The jury considered the project as a successful example of urban insertion in a restrictive context such as the French capital.

The Investcorp headquarters at Oxford University's Center for the Middle East, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, was awarded in the Education and Research Section. The project was commended for the futuristic character of the facade envelope and the visual link between the interior spaces and the surrounding environment.

In Restoration [New & Old], the jury chose the project for the extension of the Baiazid Library in Istanbul by Tabanlioglu Architects, distinguished by the elegance of the glass enclosures and lighting system that emphasizes the existing building, one of the oldest libraries in Istanbul, built in 1884.

The Salburua Civic Center in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, designed by the international office IDOM, was awarded in the Civic & Community Buildings Section. The jury appreciated the layout of the functions - sports fields and dance space in the basement, meeting rooms, multifunctional spaces and café on the ground floor, library and offices on the first floor and swimming pool on the second floor - as well as the cutouts created by the glazed surfaces in the facades.

The Waterfront Pavilion, in Sydney, designed by Australian practice Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, won the Display Space Section award. The pavilion is located in Darling Harbour and provides access to two battleships together with which it forms a museum space dedicated to commemorating 100 years of the Royal Australian Navy. The flag's morphology was commended, which the judges felt cleverly speculates the shape of the battleships, while also recalling the port's industrial past.

Malmö Live, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, a practice with offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus, London and Shanghai, known for the Royal Library in Copenhagen, among other projects, won the Mixed Functions section. The project covers 54,000 m² and includes a concert hall, a congress center and a hotel. The jury praised the public character of the complex, whose ground floor is accessible to both visitors and passers-by in search of a shortcut, thus creating an important catalyst for urban regeneration.

In the Office Section, the Zig Zag building in London, designed by London-based Lynch Architects, was awarded the Zig Zag Building. The jury found the building, which replaces a 1950s office building, to be appropriate in its context in Victoria Street, yet at the same time independent of it.

The clinic in Nötkärnan, Sweden, designed by the Swedish office Windgardh Arkitektkontor, took the prize in the Health Section. The clinic, aimed primarily at the local Somali community, was distinguished by the use of color on the exterior to create a landmark in the local urban context and by the insertion of interior gardens with exotic vegetation, with the intention of introducing a domestic touch to the interior, reminding patients of their native places.

German architects Grüntuch Ernst Ernst Architekten's project for the German school in Madrid won the Schools Section. The project, winner of a competition organized by the German state in 2009, is located on the outskirts of the city and replaces the former German school in the city centre, one of the oldest and largest German international schools, founded in 1896 and with 1,800 ^pupils3. The new building was praised for its variety and attention to the character of the local climate, provided by the alternation of built and public spaces, open and covered spaces.

Auckland's #LightPathAKL cycle walkway for cyclists, designed by New Zealand's Monk Mackenzie Architects + LandLab, was awarded in the transportation section. The project transformed an abandoned 600 meter stretch of highway to complete the city's central cycling ring. The jury noted the project's impact on cycling in Auckland, which has increased by 30%, according to the architects' presentation.

The winner of the Hotel & Leisure [Hotel & Leisure] section was the Fushengyu Hot Spring Resort project in Mianyang, China, by Aim Architecture, Shanghai. The project stood out for the variety of atmospheres and experiences created by the relationship between the building and the topography, as well as for the choice of materials in line with the local specificities (conglomerate of gravel for the floors, clay mixed with gravel for the exterior cladding and patinated wood for the interior cladding).

The Grandview Heights Aquatic Center in Surrey, Canada, designed by the Canadian firm HCMA Architecture + Design, won the Sports Section. The jury emphasized the clarity of the interior space, largely resulting from the cladding solution made of wood, a catenary structure with the largest span in the world, according to the ^Canadian office4.

In the Religion section, the award went to the St. Trinitatis Church in Leipzig, designed by Schulz und Schulz, Leipzig. The building, which replaced a church damaged in World War II and demolished in 1954, was praised for the urban character of its interior courtyard, open to the adjacent streets.

The Crystal Houses project in Amsterdam, by MVRDV, was awarded a prize in the Commercial Buildings Section. It is part of a series that includes Spijkenisse Library [Book Mountain] (2012), Schijndel Glass Farm [Glass Farm] (2013) or Rotterdam Market Square [Market Hall] (2014), in which the Dutch office experiments with the use of glass. The jury emphasized the playful character of the project, which manages to combine innovation with the constraints of urban planning regulations in a completely transparent facade made of bricks and glass joinery profiles.

The floating gardens designed by Thomas Chung on the site occupied by this year's Shenzhen Biennale won the Production, Energy & Recycling award. The project proposes to make use of a disused industrial site by creating a landscape that is both recreational and productive (food).⁵ The jury praised the experimental and educational nature of the project. Prior to the WAF, the project had won the Shenzhen UABB Biennale Organizing Committee Organizing Award.

Finally, the prize in the Cultural Building Section was awarded to the Przełomy Dialogue Center in Szczecin, designed by the Polish office Robert Konieczny - KWK Promes, based in Katowice. It was also the winner of the 2016 Project of the Year category. This year, the work also won the European Prize for Urban Public Space, and in October 2016 it was also presented in Bucharest at the RIFF Conference.

The project, located in a public space resulting from the demolition of an urban island damaged in World War II, where protests against the communist government took place in 1970, was the winner of a competition for a museum dedicated to the city's post-war history. Going beyond the requirements of the competition, the architects decided to merge the museum building into an artificial topography encompassing the entire square. This decision was motivated, among other things, by the desire to create a backdrop for the two iconic buildings in the vicinity: the Church of St. Peter and Paul and the Philharmonic designed by Estudio Barozzi Veiga (2014), also this year's Mies van der Rohe Prize winner.

The jury, composed of David Chipperfield, Louisa Hutton (partner Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin), Frédéric Migayrou (professor of architecture at Bartlett and deputy director of the Georges Pompidou Center/ National Museum of Modern Art) and Angelene Chan (managing director DP Architects, Singapore), appreciated the potential of the configuration of the new public space, which encourages both daily and occasional activities (concerts, film screenings, ceremonies or protests).

The winner of the 2016 Project of the Year category was the South Melbourne Primary School in Victoria, Australia, designed by the Australian office Hayball. The jury, composed of Coren Sharples (partner Shop Architects, New York), Kim Nielsen (partner 3XN, Copenhagen), Ole Scheeren (director Buro Ole Scheeren) and Wong Mun Summ (partner Woha, Singapore), praised the project for the increased density it introduces to the neighborhood - the school rises over five levels - and the spaces it shares with the local community (preschool education center, children's health center, multi-purpose spaces and sports fields). The project is under construction and due to open at the beginning of the 2018 school year.

The Landscape of the Year was judged by Mary Bowman (manager Gustafson Porter, London), Robert Schaffer (founding editor of Topos magazine) and Jo Noero (director Noero Architects, Cape Town) who chose the Kopupaka Reserve in New Zealand, designed by New Zealand-based Isthmus, as the winner. The project, which began in 2010, consists of developing two waterways on the outskirts of Auckland by creating a network of lakes, walkways and recreational areas.

Since 2011, INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, dedicated to interior architecture, has been held simultaneously with the WAF. The theme of this edition was Fluid Interiors, in other words an investigation of the consequences of simultaneously carrying out several activities in the same space, as well as the changing use of a space. Like WAF, INSIDE consists of supporting projects entered in the competition and a series of conferences. This year, 62 projects from 18 countries competed in nine sections. The jury, composed of Clive Wilkinson (director Clive Wilkinson Architects, Los Angeles), Philip Handford (founding director Campaign Design, London, Shanghai), Jürgen Mayer (director J. Mayer H. Architecture Design Research) and Seyhan Öydemir (director Autoban, Istanbul, London), chose as the winner of the Interior Design of the Year The Black Cant System, a commercial space in Hangzhou, China, for the New Zealand clothing manufacturer Heike, designed by AN Design, based in the same city. The space consists of an art exhibition area on the ground floor and the shop itself on the first floor, linked by a volume containing a staircase, fitting rooms and storage. The jury praised the project for its mysterious and refined atmosphere.

The Small Project of the Year Award was also presented to the bamboo pavilion in Hong Kong by the Faculty of Architecture of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The pavilion is the result of a research project led by Professor Kristof Crolla exploring the potential of the traditional bamboo building system to generate new forms of architectural expression through digital design, and is intended to host events promoting the construction and use of low carbon ^buildings6.

The WAF also hosted the support and awards ceremony for the finalist projects in the International VELUX Award 2016 competition for student architects, a competition exploring the theme of lighting in architecture. The winner was Light for the Blind, designed by a team of students from the Chinese Academy of Art. The project aimed to enable visually impaired people to feel the light through a structure covered with a rubber membrane containing sponge particles that change shape depending on the intensity of solar radiation.

Last but not least, the WAF awarded the Arcaid Prize for architectural photography. An international jury selected 20 finalists divided into four categories: Buildings in Use - a category that included Romanian photographer Laurian Ghinițoiu with his Forest of Light -, Exteriors, Interiors and Sense of Place. The prize, chosen by WAF participants' votes, was awarded to British photographer Matt Emmet for his photograph of the East London Water Works water reservoir in Finsbury Park.

NOTES:

1 For this edition, the range was January 2015-June 2016.

2 World Architecture Festival, Press Release, 2016.

3 Grüntuch Ernst Architekten, 2016, available at http://gruentuchernst.de/en/#/project270/1 [accessed 24.11.206].

4 HCMA Architecture + Design, 2016, available at http://hcma.ca/project/grandviewheights/ [accessed 24.11.206].

5 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, 2015, available at http://en.szhkbiennale.org/Exhibits/contentPage.aspx?id=10000681 [accessed 24.11.206].

6 CUHK School of Architecture, 2016, available at

http://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/v1/index.php/event/eventpage/158 [accessed 23.11.206].