Pınar IŞIK BAYIR | Türkiye Corporate Clients Manager
contribution…
WAF is a big organization with a high diversity of participants in terms of architecture and interior design. For this reason, being part of such a festival fulfills our brand’s position in the market very well. Wherever it is in the world, you can meet the values that the designer wants with a product from the GROHE portfolio.
WAF categories show our segments and future project topics show the areas we want to grow in the future. For this reason, we present the new ‘us’ to the designers who come together with brand new projects and excitement at WAF every year. Participants and guests returning from the festival will definitely internalize the innovations about GROHE and remember this experience at WAF when they start their new designs.
perspective…
Under no circumstances can you think of architecture away from time and people. You may be there to listen and watch a project, but you also hear the changing expectations of the users, the reflections of the political-economic conditions of the countries on the use of space and follow the world. For this reason, you go there not only to celebrate the award winners but also to gain a new perspective.
Apart from the supplier companies, the other participants there are undoubtedly fed by this. It also gives you the chance to create a jury atmosphere again after years and present your project in front of them. This teaches you presentation techniques and skills all over again in the face of questions asked by someone who is practicing this profession with a completely different background.
Although WAF seems to be a festival attended only by experienced professionals, I think it should be included in the network of the next generation of designers. Of course, responding to user needs is the first goal in the design process; but the goals of becoming a finalist in festivals such as WAF will make the projects more innovative and versatile. This will affect the shaping of the 21st Century Turkey-World Architecture that we will talk about years later.
about WAF…
Participation from our country is increasing every year. We see that there are not only finalist offices but also teams that are there to observe the festival. You get the chance to chat with world-famous designers whose projects you may only follow in printed media; this is a very important network.
There are very valuable designers in our country. We clearly see this from the offices that are finalists or increase the number of awards every year. Being a finalist at WAF and winning awards starts a whole new era in their career lives and paves the way for them to do projects in different parts of the world.
As a result, it pioneers national or international competitions and festivals in this sector.
WAF 2025 & Miami…
The fact that it starts in Europe and extends to Singapore, and that the participation increases exponentially every year, actually shows us the benefit of hosting different cultures rather than staying fixed. We know that Singapore’s participation this year is more diverse than last year. This rising momentum will surely continue in America.
We can talk about a close architecture in Europe and our country. A brand new era has started with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When we went to the Far East, we continued to see the effects of climate on architecture. America has an understanding that it pioneered with all these, the land where the first skyscrapers were built [Home Insurance-Chicago, 1884,1885]. With the increasing participation of American architectural offices, we will be able to place most of the 21st century architectural movements on the World Map. And WAF will have pioneered this.
development & progress of WAF…
With over 8 billion inhabitants of the world, architecture cannot be considered independent from sociology or culture. While trying to respond to different needs, the fact that your design is evaluated in a festival as big as WAF is one of the highest levels a designer wants to reach. A designer who continues his professional life has taken the existence and understanding of WAF for granted; he will try to incorporate it into his designs.
Meeting designers at the beginning of their careers and showing them that the ‘best’ of the projects made in various parts of the world are evaluated every year will increase the participation in WAF in the long run and ensure that the excitement is never lost.
