Divine inspiration receives the highest accolades at this year’s World Architecture Festival

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World Building of the Year: The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis. Image: Hisao Suzuki

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World Interior of the Year: Fractal Chapel at State Hospital Graz by Innocad Architecture. Image: Paul Ott

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WAF Completed Buildings: Sport winner – Hiwa Recreation Centre by Warren and Mahoney and MJMA Architecture + Design. Image: Scott Norsworthy

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WAF Future Project: Urban Design winner – Te Ara Tukutuku by Landlab and Scape as part of Toi Waihanga Design Collective. Image: Render supplied

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WAF Future Project: House winner – Dune House at Te Arai by Monk Mackenzie. Image: Render Dawid Wisniewski

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uture Project of the Year: Felephu International Airport by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group. Image: Render by BIG

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Landscape of the Year: Embracing Flood: Xinjiang River Ecological Corridor by Turenscape. Image: Turenscape

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The World Building of The Year and Interior of The Year at the World Architecture Festival 2025 are The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Spain and the Fractal Chapel by INNOCAD architecture in Graz, Austria. Also featuring in the awards line up are three New Zealand projects; one completed and the other two future projects.

The World Building of the Year, World Interior of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Landscape of the Year were announced on Friday as hundreds of architects from across the world convened at a grand finale Gala Dinner at Miami Beach Convention Centre in Miami, Florida.

A host of Special Prizes, including the American Beauty Prize supported by the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust, were also announced at the closing event to celebrate the 18th edition of the festival. These announcements came on the final day of WAF, in which prize winners across all 43 categories were competing for the winning titles.

New Zealand’s winning entries were announced on Day One and Day Two of judging, with Warren and Mahoney and MJMA Architecture & Design’s Hiwa (University of Auckland Recreation and Wellness Centre) winning the WAF Completed Buildings: Sport category; LandLAB and Scape, as part of Toi Waihanga design collective’s Te Ara Tukutuku winning the WAF Future Project: Urban Design category; and Monk Mackenzie’s Dune House winning the WAF Future Project: House category.

WAF Completed Buildings: Sport winner – Hiwa Recreation Centre by Warren and Mahoney and MJMA Architecture + Design. Image: Scott Norsworthy

WAF Future Project: Urban Design winner – Te Ara Tukutuku by Landlab and Scape as part of Toi Waihanga Design Collective. Image: Render supplied

WAF Future Project: House winner – Dune House at Te Arai by Monk Mackenzie. Image: Render Dawid Wisniewski

Of the overall winner, Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival Paul Finch saidd: “The judges particularly admired the intensity of the architecture and the way light has been used to shape the quality and character of the interiors, enhancing the tactile nature of the surfaces. The building manages to masterfully accommodate symbolic and everyday needs of the community of which the architect is a part. The project has become a fine addition to the architecture of Tenerife.”

The winner was selected by a Super Jury chaired by Mohsen Mostafavi, Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design and Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University. It included: Laurinda Spear, Founding Principal, Arquitectonica; Ma Yansong, Founder and Principal Partner, MAD Architects, and Sir Peter Cook, Director and architect, Peter Cook Studio Crablab.

The Future Project of the Year went to Gelephu International Airport by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group in Gelephu, Bhutan and the Landscape of the Year went to Embracing Flood: Xinjiang River Ecological Corridor by Turenscape in Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, China.