WAF 2025 Reveals World Building and Interior Winners

The World Architecture Festival 2025 concluded in Miami with a new set of global benchmarks in architecture and design excellence. This year’s edition of the World Architecture Festival brought together hundreds of architects for three days of live judging, culminating in the announcement of the festival’s most prestigious awards, including World Building of the Year and World Interior of the Year. Held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the event reaffirmed WAF as the leading global stage for architectural innovation.

Celebrating Global Achievements in Architecture

As a major international platform, the World Architecture Festival showcases built projects, future proposals, and advancing ideas shaping the discipline today. This year’s winners represent a remarkable breadth of themes such as community empowerment, ecological resilience, craftsmanship, and material innovation. With over 43 category winners competing for the festival’s top titles, WAF provided an intense arena where architects defended their work before an esteemed Super Jury. Full lists of winners remain available via World Architecture Festival.

World Building of the Year: A Community Landmark in Tenerife

The top honor, World Building of the Year, was awarded to The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis. The project synthesizes robust concrete volumes, thoughtful daylighting, and a strong civic role to uplift a neglected neighborhood in La Laguna. Designed and built across 16 years, the project demonstrates how phased construction, community donations, and contextual materials can deliver a lasting social catalyst. Its sculpted light, cracked openings, and volcanic-inspired massing give the structure both a spiritual and urban presence, illustrating WAF’s appreciation for architecture that integrates symbolism with everyday use.

World Interior of the Year: Fractal Chapel in Graz

Among interior environments, FRACTAL CHAPEL by INNOCAD architecture claimed the World Interior of the Year title. The intimate 35-square-meter chapel merges neuroscience, biophilic design, and fractal geometries to create a calming refuge within a state hospital. Natural wood surfaces, a double-height spatial sequence, and a sculptural altar made from walnut rootstock heighten sensory awareness while maintaining a serene atmosphere. The project exemplifies how interior design can enrich emotional well-being through controlled light, texture, and scientifically informed pattern-making.

Future Project and Landscape Honors

The Future Project of the Year went to BIG’s Gelephu International Airport, a sustainably engineered transport hub shaped by Bhutanese craft, timber diagrids, and wellness-focused spatial arrangements. Meanwhile, the Landscape of the Year was awarded to Embracing Flood by Turenscape, an ecological corridor that uses sponge-city strategies to restore a 102-hectare floodplain in Jiangxi Province. Both winning works highlight the festival’s attention to climate resilience, regional identity, and public accessibility in contemporary design thinking.

Beyond the main prizes, WAF also presented numerous Special Prizes recognizing excellence in materials, color, daylight, sustainability, and small-scale innovation. Collectively, these awards reflect the festival’s broader aim: advancing architecture’s role in addressing global challenges while celebrating the diversity of creative approaches worldwide.

WAF 2025 Timeline