Shortlist
Yazgan Design Architecture
Begüm Yazgan [Founder] | impressions
about WAF…
This year’s World Architecture Festival took place from November 29 to December 1, 2023 at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. At the WAF Awards, one of the world’s largest international awards programs, visitors listened to keynotes, architectural presentations and leading voices in the industry, and participated in important discussions.
This year's festival questioned how architecture can be a catalyst for change. Through design, there were conversations about how it is possible for people to engage in multiple and diverse interactions with community, ideas, experiences and space, and through this explore opportunities to find personal and collective fulfillment.
In addition to the architectural presentations, the three-day event featured 75 speakers on two stages, presenting on the issues facing design today and the problems it is expected to solve.
This year’s WAF finalists, as every year, included major architects from around the world. In the WAF jury sessions, many smaller practices also took the stage against the big names, competing vividly. This year’s shortlist included the best newly completed buildings, landscape designs and inspiring future projects in 33 categories. The shortlist was selected from over 800 entries and comprised 495 projects from 333 different practices.
highlights…
With the theme “Catalyst”, WAF 2023 invited all participants to consider how architecture and design can be catalysts for positive change. The theme of catalyst was explored in relation to architecture, as architecture enables, accelerates and encourages interaction with the built environment.
A catalyst is a factor that triggers change. It is what initiates an action that comes from the process of making a chemical reaction happen faster. The jury sessions gave the finalists the opportunity to think about how we can make beneficial changes to the social and environmental phenomena that exist in the world today when we think about architecture and design. In a sense, the sessions called on architects to work together towards a better future, to live in a world of climate crisis, pandemics and war.
preparation…
At WAF, each finalist makes an 8-minute presentation. It is absolutely necessary to respect these 8 minutes in the presentations. At the end of each day, the winners of the categories are announced. The categories include completed and upcoming projects. A third group, Inside, includes interior design projects and Inside World Festival of Interiors takes place simultaneously with WAF.
On the last day of the event, four overall winners are announced from all the winners in all categories. Structure of the Year, Future Project of the Year, Interior of the Year and Landscape of the Year. The overall winners are announced at a gala dinner at Marina Bay Sands.
