WAFX 2022 Shortlist Revealed

And from 152, there were 20. Drawn from this year’s Future Projects shortlist field, the 20 WAFX Prize contenders were selected for “[embracing] cutting-edge design approaches to address major world issues ranging from tackling the climate emergency to building community resilience.” In a change from last year’s awarding of the 12 WAFX category winners in July 2021, this year’s batch will be accorded the honors during the live edition of the World Architecture Festival in Lisbon, Portugal, from November 30 to December 2. The overall WAFX winner will also be revealed live during the festival, alongside other honors including the much-coveted World Building of the Year prize, Landscape of the Year, Future Project of the Year, and finally, Interior of the Year.

WAF Program director Paul Finch shares his thoughts on this year’s WAFX selection: “Big challenges require big commitment and fresh thinking. These future projects show that architects across the world are responding to complex problems in imaginative ways — with the bonus of some design delight.”

Like this year’s shocker at the INSIDE shortlists where only one homegrown ASEAN firm made it, no studio or project from the bloc made it to the WAFX shortlist. Last year, ASEAN was represented by the Philippines with two category winners: Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc. for Cagbalete Sand Clusters in the Food category and WTA Architecture and Design Studio for Horizon Manila in the Water category. The latter ultimately went on to win the WAFX Project of the Year award, the highest plum prize reached by the Pinoy contingent last year.

The full WAFX shortlist follows. •

WAFX 2022 Shortlist

F U T U R E   p R O J E C T S

Commercial Mixed-Use

Culture

Residential

Prototype (M5) by Henriquez Partners Architects

Masterplanning

View the full announcement and shortlist here