a peek into world architecture festival's 2023 edition in singapore

world architecture festival 2023 is landing in singapore

Landing in Singapore after almost a decade, the World Architecture Festival (WAF) is launching its 2023 edition at the city’s Marina Bay Sands between November 29 and December 1, 2023. This year’s program, themed Catalyst, encompasses the live WAF award judging, inspirational talks and keynotes led by 76 renowned speakers, as well as a series of fringe events taking place around Singapore — including a Mario Cucinella exhibition, guided architectural tours, and a Wes Anderson-inspired short film. Overall, this highly anticipated three-day festival invites experts and the public to uncover the latest debates and concepts put forth by the architectural community, which designboom has packaged into a comprehensive preview right here. Read on to see what the World Architecture Festival 2023 edition has in store.

Marina Bay Sands | image © Ravish Maqsood

previewing the main WAF program

The World Architecture Festival 2023 program is packed with big names, groundbreaking discussions, and impressive finalists. Following this year’s theme, Catalyst, the keynotes and talks will unpack how architecture and design catalyze beneficial change for the environment, individuals, and institutions. 76 international speakers will lead these discussions on the Main stage and in The Festival Hall in the span of three days. Highlights include Charu Kokate from Safdie Architects; Mario Cucinella, Sir Peter Cook; OBMI‘s Islam El Mashtooly; Verform‘s Mouaz Abouzaid; and Herzog de Meuron‘s Wim Walschap. Running in parallel to the main program is the World Festival of Interiors, Inside, that the likes of English RIBA architect Nigel Coates will headline. You can see the complete list of speakers here. Complementing the speaker event is the live WAF awards judging, where 495 shortlisted projects will compete in front of a jury across 17 crit rooms. The shortlist categories are Completed Buildings, Future Buildings, and Landscape — with projects ranging from hospitality and mixed-use to education, religion, and sport. Discover all 2023 finalists on the festival website.

Gardens by the Bay | image courtesy WAF

unpacking fringe events, from guided tours to short film

World Architecture Festival 2023 completes with a series of Fringe events: (1) Seven guided architectural tours, (2) the Architecture Drawing Prize exhibition, (3) Mario Cucinella Architects’ The Future is a Journey to the Past exhibition, and (4) a Wes Anderson-inspired short film. The tours will allow WAF attendees to discover local landmarks and previous award-winning projects from the festival; these will be guided by qualified architects and, in some cases, the lead architect on the project itself. Landmarks include Heatherwick Studio‘s Learning Hub building, Wilkinson Eyre‘s Gardens by the Bay, W Architects | M Moser‘s St James Power Station, and Safdie Architects’ Jewel at Changi Airport. Spaces are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The complete guided tour program is available here.

Esplanade Theatres on the Bay | image courtesy WAF

Up next is the seventh edition of the Architecture Drawing Prize exhibition, which continues to celebrate the art of drawing in three categories: hand-drawn, digital, and hybrid. Sponsored by Iris Ceramica Group, the Prize has attracted a record number of entries with nearly 250 drawings from around the world. This year’s winners are: Grundtvig by Ben Johnson in the hand-drawn category, The Archatographic Map of the Incomplete Landscape on Pedra Branca by Eugene Tan in the digital category, and ‘Re)membering the See Monster by Eldry John Infante in the hybrid category. Sir John Soane’s Museum in London will exhibit both the winning and shortlisted drawings from 31 January to 3 March 2024. WAF will host a second exhibition curated and designed by Mario Cucinella Architects. Titled The Future is a Journey to the Past, this showcase explores the past and present of sustainable thinking — focusing the narrative around a timeline that traces the evolution of environmental awareness and activism from prehistory to today.

Experimental Shortlist 2023 – Absorbent Sand Storm Skyscraper by Kalbod Studio | image courtesy WAF

Last but not least, the World Architecture Festival’s Fringe events will feature a wrap-up of a three-year architectural adventure documenting the built environment in Singapore by local architectural photographer and content creator Kevin Siyuan. The short film — dubbed A Wes Anderson-ish Singapore Vol.2 — is inspired by the cinematography of the American movie director (famous for ‘Asteroid City’ & ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’). It captures the many different aspects of urban land use, paying tribute to signature Wes Anderson aesthetics and infusing the style with Kevin’s own personal touch of cinematographic adaptations and localizations in the local context.