WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL - Barcelona 24.10.2010

Soccer City National Stadium in South Africa, A bamboo house in Costa Rica, The Apple Store on the Upper West Side, USA and The Medieval & Renaissance Galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK are among the 236 international projects to feature on this year's shortlist for the world's biggest architecture contest - the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards.

Projects that range from a church in England to a prison in Norway, will go head to head at the Festival, which is designed to celebrate the aspirations and concerns of the international architectural community. Contested in front of a live public delegation as well as a 'super jury' of internationally celebrated architects, the projects are set to battle it out for the prestigious accolade of World Building of the Year 2010.

Challenging elitist perceptions of the architectural industry, an unknown practice holds as much chance of winning the top prize as a household name and this year's awards have attracted entries from 55 different countries, spanning the globe. Emerging markets such as Slovenia are represented alongside countries such as USA, UK, Australia, Germany, and Scandinavia, which all have significant presence on the shortlist.

Confirmed jurors at the 2010 World Architecture Festival include: Arata Isozaki, Enrique Norton, Manfredi Nicoletti, John Patkau, Sir Peter Cook, Isay Weinfeld and Michael Heenan as well as a number of design critics from the global media. Buildings by internationally renowned architects such as Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Will Alsop at RMJM, and Terry Farrell & Partners (Farrells), as well as smaller practices are represented among the shortlisted projects. The 15 category winners in the Building of the Year Award will go forward to compete in front of a 'super-jury', who cast the deciding vote as to which project is crowned World Building of the Year 2010 on 5th November, the grand finale to the three day event.

Paul Finch, WAF programme director, said: "We are very pleased to have received over 500 entries from 61 different countries. It is also encouraging for the industry to see a great deal of entries from "new" economies, both by local architects and international practices. We look forward to welcoming over 1000 delegates to Barcelona in November." The WAF Awards will be held during World Architecture Festival, which takes place in Barcelona at the Centre Convencions International Barcelona (CCIB) from 3rd to 5th November 2010.

In addition to the 15 accolades presented for World Building of the Year, this year's Awards will feature three alternative categories - Interiors and Fit-out, Structural Design and Future Projects, which celebrates excellence in the early stages of the design process.

A series of keynote addresses, seminars, exhibitions and presentations will run alongside the main awards programme, and every shortlisted project will feature in a grand exhibition during the festival in Barcelona.
For more information and to purchase tickets for the Festival visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com