In its 15th year, World Architecture Festival is the largest global annual architectural event and live awards competition aimed to share and celebrate architectural & design excellence across the world. WAF 2022 was organised in Lisbon, Portugal. This year’s festival theme ‘Together’ marked the first in-person WAF after a three-year hiatus. The re-union of the global A&D community proved to be a fruitful event where the members discussed the changes in architecture and allied fields post-pandemic while also addressing the rising concern of climate change. This year’s festival attracted over 1,500 attendees and over 800 entries for the WAF and INSIDE awards. Out of the 43 category winners, 15 were from Asia and Australasia, led by China (6), Australia (6), India (1), and New Zealand (1).

Here is a detailed review of the winners of the most awaited event of the year:

For the World building of the year category, Quay Quarter Tower (QQT), a 206-meter office building , located close to the Sydney Opera House, designed by 3XN was declared the winner and was selected through a systematic procedure by a super jury of luminaries of the global architecture industry – comprising Tracy Meller, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Jo Noero, Noero Architects; John Wardle, John Wardle Architects; Issa Diabaté, Koffi & Diabaté Architectes, and Murat Tabanlioglu, Tabanlioglu Architects.  

Moving on, the World Interior of the Year was bagged by Pingtan Children Library by Condition Lab which is a small, traditional, timber structure in China.

Last but not the least was The Future Project of the Year category which honours the best of the world’s architecture that is yet to be completed. This award was won by Dream Pathway that showcases an urban pedestrian and cyclist pathway in Iran, designed by CAATStudio (Kamboozia Architecture and Design Studio).