WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL
BERLIN, GERMANY
From 15-17 November, the World Architecture Festival, which
is considered to be the largest international architecture event,
absolutely knocked every one of their feet by creating yet again a
unique platform of architectural excellence. Celebrating its 10th
anniversary, World Architecture Festival (WAF) returned to Eu-
rope, more precisely to Arena Berlin, in Germany, where visitors
and professionals were able to witness spectacular live presenta-
tions. “This is the tenth anniversary of the Festival and we are
delighted to be back in Berlin, for a second year.
Our conference theme is an opportunity to review the contribu-
tion architecture and design makes to the economic, technical
and psychological performance of buildings and interiors – with
2,000 professionals to share their experience and expertise,”
stated Paul Finch, Programme Director of the World Architec-
ture Festival The highly respected festival was comprised of
five crucial elements: the WAF Awards, a thematic conference
programme, an exhibition of award entries, sponsor and exhib-
itor stands, and a series of networking/social events as well as
WAF Fringe activities. As a whole, WAF is a diverse mean to
allow architects and firms from all over the world to seek the
opportunity to showcase what they are made of. The architec-
tural projects shortlisted represented a wide variety of types and
sizes, ranging from small family homes to schools, stations, mu-
seums, large infrastructure, and landscape projects. Out of the
434 projects chosen, it was the United Kingdom that widely led
the pack, however, the USA, Australia, and Turkey also made
their presence known at the Festival. Asia saw its participation
increase by a third, with a distinctive rise in residential projects.
This year organisers introduced a new Villa category that fea-
tured entries from Brazil, New Zealand and India. In addition,
Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG, Neri & Hu, Allford Hall Monaghan
Morris, AL_A, Nikken Sekkei, Rafael Vinoly Architects, Grim-
shaw, and Heatherwick Studio were some of the most influential
names highlighted. In order to celebrate their 10th anniversary,
the festival launched the WAFX Manifesto, with the purpose of
identifying the major challenges in which architects will have to
address in the next decade, such as climate, energy and carbon,
water, smart city and building technology, water, cultural iden-
tity, and several other issues. In regards to conferences and talks,
the festival collected an incredible line of speakers consisting of
world-class architects, from Pierre de Meuron to Alison Brooks,
Rafael Viñoly and Charles Jencks. Numerous discussions and de-
bates following the chosen them “Performance” were set, where
speakers examined this topic to the fullest, namely its impact on
perspectives like housing, public spaces, festivals, cultural insti-
tutions and new technologies. Lastly, it is stellar and memorable
moments like the ones described above that make this festival,
alongside its sistering venue, INSIDE, the world’s best and most
innovative architecture platforms.
