Two 2023 WAFX Award wins for New Zealand
It was announced on the 17th of July that projects by RTA Studio and Warren and Mahoney (AUS), have picked up a 2023 WAFX Award for addressing issues facing society and the plant.
Two New Zealand names in architecture RTA Studio and Warren and Mahoney have won a special WAFX Award along with thirty-two other exemplary future projects which address major architectural issues facing society and the planet.
The Award spans across eight key categories, with the shortlist celebrating international proposals which embrace design vision and innovation to address major world opportunities and challenges, ranging from pushing the use of smart technology and building reuse, to addressing the issue of an aging population and tackling the climate emergency.
The WAFX Award winners are all selected from entries to the Future Projects category in the WAF Awards Programme, for their ambition and scope in response to today’s most pressing global issues. This is ahead of the live event which this year will take place in Singapore, at Marina Bay Sands, from 29 November–1 December.
View the full list of the WAFX Award winners here.
View the full shortlist, including the WAF Future Projects categories here.
This year’s WAFX categories are: Ageing and Health, Building Technology, Carbon Climate and Energy, Cultural Identity, Ethics and Values, Re-Use, Smart Cities, and Water. The 2023 category winners range from an island centred around medical services in Dubai and an off-grid mixed-use tower in the United States, to rethinking oil rigs as sustainable, offshore data centres in the United Kingdom and an exhibition hall celebrating local bamboo craft in China.
Paul Finch, Director of the World Architecture Festival, comments:
“Thinking about better futures is part and parcel of the World Architecture Festival programme. We are delighted with the quantity and quality of projects which are looking at the biggest problems facing the world, and which are addressing them in a truly constructive way.”
WAF represents the world’s biggest live judged architectural awards programme, where all finalists present their projects to a panel of judges at the international festival. The 34 WAFX winning projects will present on the Festival Hall Stage at WAF, and the overall WAFX winner will be announced live during the festival, alongside other accolades including World Building of the Year, Landscape of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Interior of the Year.