You probably heard about different events taking place in Singapore. Well, once more a cultural and artistic event took place there and this happened from October 1st to October 3rd. The World Architecture Festival nominated several projects for different categories and announced the winners. The Festival has two main categories: the completed and the conceptual projects. This event wants to recognize future and present projects that want to meet different purposes (residential, sports, transport, religion, civic and community, office etc.)
The winner of the Building of The Year award was the Chapel/A21 studio situated in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. This is a space that was created as a result of the estate crisis in the area, where there are no communal centers. Therefore, people in the region can use this space for weddings, conferences, exhibition and other different activities in the community.
Paul Finch, WAF Programme Director, said “The judges felt this was a project that embraced history and modernity, and created a dialogue in the process. It has created maximum effect with minimum materials and has produced an unexpected change of pace in its urban context. The opportunity has been taken to recycle and rethink materials and site, and a series of design issues have been addressed which have produced a small project that makes a big statement. Color and light have been deployed to put people at ease and the architect has found poetry in the mundane.”
For The Small Project of The Year category, the award went to The Pinch. This building appeared as a result of a governmental program after an earthquake in September 2012 and it is situated in Shuanghe village, in China.
For the conceptual category, the Future Project of the Year was awarded to Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, representing the renovation and expansion of an art gallery which is located in Victoria, Canada.
You can visit the WAF website to see all the winners and many other interesting projects around the world.
Text: Diana Porumboiu
