The 2008 World Architecture Festival recently concluded in Barcelona, and the first World Architecture Awards were announced. The top prize for World Building of the Year went to the new faculty building at the Luigi Bocconi University in Milan. This impressive facility was designed by Grafton Architects of Ireland, and judges noted that the design “succeeded in distilling the essence of the city into a confident, contemporary form.” The building includes offices for 1,000 professors, 5 conference halls, lecture theatres, courtyards and concourses, all accessible to the public, with offices for teaching staff suspended above.
Other award winners include Best Housing Development to Mountain Dwellings in Copenhagen, Denmark and the Best House to Sou Fujimoto Architects’ Final Wooden House in Kumamura, Japan. Final Wooden House was praised as a “captivating work in which building fabric, structure, furniture and so on merge in an ever changing landscape of inhabitation.”
The Duoc Corporate Building in Santiago, Chile, designed by Sabbagh Arquitecos of Chile, won the World’s Best Office Building, and was called an “Exciting building in one of the most exciting countries.” Croatia’s Sports Hall in Bale, which was design by 3LHD Architects, was named as the World’s Best Sport Building.
A complete listing of winners for this year’s World Architecture Awards is available here.
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