Dezeen Magazine

Final call for entries to this year's WAF and Inside awards

Dezeen promotion: designers and architects have until 18 May 2017 to submit their projects for awards at this year's World Architecture Festival and Inside World Festival of Interiors in Berlin.

Dezeen is media partners for both World Architecture Festival (WAF) and Inside, which take place simultaneously over three days at Arena Berlin from 15 to 17 November 2017.

This subterranean museum in Poland was named World Building of the Year in 2016

Both festivals include awards programmes, which honour exemplary architecture and interior design projects completed in the last 18 months.

Last year a subterranean museum in Poland with a huge public space on its roof was named World Building of the Year, while the World Interior of the Year prize was awarded to a monochrome clothing boutique in China.

The World Interior of the Year 2016 prize was awarded to a monochrome clothing boutique in China

There are 31 possible categories to enter for WAF, covering completed buildings, landscapes and future projects, and nine Inside categories, including residential, hotels and offices.

Entrants have until 18 May to submit their projects. Dezeen readers can receive an exclusive 20 percent discount on entry fees and delegate passes by entering the code DEZEEN20 online.

Other shortlisted WAF projects in 2016 included the Akagane Museum by Nikken Sekkei

Shortlisted candidates are asked to present their projects to a judging panel during the festivals.

Category winners will be announced live, and their projects will then be considered for the coveted titles World Building of the Year, Future Project of the Year and Interior of the Year, judged by a super jury of leading architects and designers including MVRDV's Nathalie de Vries, dRMM's Sadie Morgan and Kristian Lars Ahlmark of Schmidt Hammer Lassen.

All shortlisted projects will also be exhibited at the event, along with important winners from the past decade.

This house by OHLAB was named winner in the house category at WAF

This year marks the 10th anniversary of WAF, so this year will see the launch of a new initiative: the WAF Manifesto. Aiming to generate funding for research, the manifesto will address how forward-thinking architects are with their designs.

"The manifesto identifies key challenges which architects will need to address over the next 10 years, including climate, energy and carbon; water; ageing and health; re-use; smart city technology; building technology; cultural identity; ethics and values; power and justice; and virtual worlds," said WAF.

Shortlisted projects for Inside 2016 included the New Psychiatric Hospital by Karlsson Arkitekter

The overall theme for WAF this year is Performance. In addition to the awards, there will be a programme of talks and activities all centred around the theme, including a visit to the Hans Scharoun-designed Berlin Philharmonie.

"This year we will examine the multiple aspects of "performance" that architecture has to embrace – aesthetic, technical, economic and psychological," said WAF programme director Paul Finch.

"We will be discussing buildings designed for performance – for example, theatres and concert halls – but also the role that buildings play in the life and spectacle of the city itself."

Visit the WAF and Inside websites for more information.