The most innovative architectural projects from around the world are revealed today as the shortlist for the 2024 World Architecture Festival (WAF) is announced. This is ahead of the live event which will take place in Singapore once again this year, at Marina Bay Sands, from 6 - 8 November.

Today’s shortlist celebrates the best newly completed buildings and landscapes as well as the most inspiring future architectural concepts, across 33 categories, ranging from residential, to transport, to retrofit. Later this week (Wednesday 10 July) the Inside World Festival of Interiors shortlist will be announced – WAF’s sister awards programme celebrating the finest examples of global interior design, across ten categories. The overall shortlist has been selected from 800 entries and comprises over 480 projects from more than 350 unique practices. 

WAF represents the world’s biggest live-judged architectural awards programme, where all finalists present their projects to a panel of judges at the international festival.
 
View a selection of project image highlights from the 2024 WAF shortlist here.
 
This year’s finalists range from major world architects, including Zaha Hadid Architects, WOHA, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, MVRDV, Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Kohn Pederson Fox, and Nikken Sekkei, with many emerging practices also on stage competing against the big names. 

The full shortlist for this year's completed buildings, future and landscape project awards can be viewed here.

This year’s finalists represent 71 countries, with the top five shortlisted countries including China, Australia, United Kingdom, India and Singapore.

The international judging panel for this year’s awards consists of 175 industry experts across 32 countries and will include industry leaders such as Kelley Cheng, Sanjay Puri, Mariana Simas, Sonali Rastogi, Mario Cucinella, Emre Arolat, Ian Ritchie, Charu Kokate, Yael Reisner, Sir Peter Cook and Nigel Coates.

On the final day of the festival, category winners from across all 43 categories will go head-to-head for the ultimate accolades of World Building of the Year, Landscape of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Interior of the Year.  A host of Special Prizes, including WAFX, which celebrates imaginative cutting-edge designs addressing major world issues, will also be awarded to projects from the main shortlist. 

National Star Observatory by Kyriakos Tsolakis Architects Photo credit: Aaron Miles

Natural Connection – OLM Nature Escape Eco-Aparthotel by Andreas Gruber Architects Photo credit: Andreas Gruber Architects

Kalyon Karap?nar 1.350 MWp SPP – Central Control Building by Bilgin Architects Photo credit: Egemen Karakaya

TAWA Refugio by CONTEXTO Photo credit: Nicolas Gildemeister

Texoversum by allmannwappner, Menges Scheffler Architekten, Jan Knippers Ingenieure Photo credit: Brigida González

Sunita Shekhawat Flagship Store and Gallery by Studio Lotus Photo credit: Ishita Sitwala

6x18 Slender House by Spaces Architects Photo credit: Bharat Aggarwal

Sponge Synergy – The Huaiyang Fuxi Cultural Park by Turenscape Photo credit: Turenscape

Architectural Design Of Liangzi Island Off-island Pier, Rational and Emotional by UAO Design Photo credit: Yilong Zhao

Woven Passage to Cloudy Peaks by line+ studio Photo credit: line+ studio

Rhodes House Transformation by Stanton Williams Photo credit: Hufton and Crow

Seddülbahir Fortress by KOOP Architects: AOMTD (Arzu Ozsavasci Architecture) Photo credit: Egemen Karakaya

Xiangyang National Sports Center Project by Central-south Architectural Design Institute Photo credit: Location Shooting

Lighthouse by 3XN Photo credit: Adam Mork

The Chodge by DCA Architects of Transformation Photo credit: Simon Devitt

Shanghai Blue Bay Kindergarten by EAST CHINA ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & RESEARCH INSTITUTE CO., LTD | STUDIO DINGSHUN Photo credit: CreatAR image

Preston Level Crossing Removal Project by Wood Marsh Architecture Photo credit: Peter Bennetts

Sanctuary Pet Crematorium by Formwerkz Architects Photo credit: Fabian Ong

Atlantis The Royal by Kohn Pedersen Fox Photo credit: Kohn Pedersen Fox

WAF programme director Paul Finch comments: “Another terrific set of entries made shortlisting projects a tough process. Once again, the range of geographies represented was wide and we look forward to seeing architects across the world at this year’s Festival.

This year we have also made a selection of more than 30 awards in the WAFX section, where we recognize future projects addressing the world’s most pressing environmental and social issues, and these will be announced on the 15th of July. With 175 judges coming to Singapore in November, this will be a truly international event and we look forward to welcoming both familiar and new names for the award presentations, and our thematic conference programme, ‘Tomorrow’, which will review the directions in which architecture is heading about 21st-century conditions.”

WAF will be back in Singapore for its 17th edition. This follows previous editions of the festival in Lisbon, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Berlin. In addition to the unique live-judged awards programme and crit presentations, this year’s event will include a live events programme and keynote talks from an international panel of speakers around the theme of ‘Tomorrow’. 

WAF and its co-located event, Inside World Festival of Interiors, will welcome the world’s leading architects and designers for three days of talks programmes, awards, exhibitions and fringe events, showcasing leading international practices, the best new projects, and the most pressing live debates.