Six projects from the UAE, including Abu Dhabi’s currently under construction Zayed National Museum, have made it to the shortlist of the World Architecture Festival, with winners to be announced in December.
The shortlist, which spans two main categories – Completed Buildings and Future Projects – contains more than 400 entries from around the world.
The Zayed National Museum, which won the festival’s Cultural Identity award earlier in July, is nominated under the Future Projects category.
Designed by acclaimed UK architects Foster + Partners, the building is distinguished by a cluster of five steel towers that soar into the sky – some as tall as 123 metres – that evoke the wings of the falcon, the UAE's national bird.
Scroll through the gallery above for projects in the UAE nominated at the World Architecture Festival.
The museum will narrate the story of Sheikh Zayed, Founding Father, and highlight the history of the region and its cultural connections with countries around the world, according to the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
Other completed buildings in the shortlist include Sharjah’s House of Wisdom (also by Foster + Partners) and Buhais Geology Park's Interpretive Centre (by Hopkins Architects).
Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability Pavilion, Terra (by Grimshaw Architects), has also been nominated in the Display section under Completed Buildings.
-
An outside view of the Sustainability pavilion which features large “energy trees” in the shape of sunflowers are spread throughout the area and also distribute power. These rotate throughout the day to track and store sunlight -
The sprawling Expo 2020 site is prepared to welcome the world later this year -
A butterfly finds himself at home in the Sustainability pavilion -
Sustainability is one of the expo’s key themes and aims to raise awareness of human impact on the environment -
The Sustainability pavilion is set to whet the appetite of visitors ahead of the grand opening of Expo 2020 Dubai in October. All pictures by Pawan Singh / The National -
Reem Al Hashimy, director general of Expo 2020 Dubai and Minister of State for International Co-operation, unveils the spectacular Sustainability pavilion -
The underground forest zone helps bring nature to life -
Inside the Sustainability pavilion. The pavilion covers 6,300 square metres of the expo site and is entirely operated from solar energy and recycled water -
The Sustainability pavilion boasts an interactive “underground forest” and “underground ocean” to raise awareness on the negative impact humans have on to the planet -
Visitors to the Sustainability pavilion can see how human consumption of daily items, such as meat, fashion items and paper, is harming the environment and leading to climate change -
A striking bat decoration is just one of the eye-catching sights on show -
The Sustainability pavilion includes consumption halls, which demonstrate how humankind has impacted the environment
Abu Dhabi’s 27,500-square-metre Al Fay Park, which boasts more than 2,000 trees, also makes it to the shortlist, under the Landscape - Urban Context section in the Completed Buildings category. The forest-like space on Al Reem Island, designed by SLA Architects, opened to the public in January.
Also nominated under Landscape is Abu Dhabi’s Qasr Al Hosn park-scape, the 140,000-square-metre park built around the Qasr Al Hosn Fort in the centre of the city.
Originally built in 1760 as a watchtower to protect the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island, the site constitutes the birthplace of the modern metropolis, according to architectural firm Cebra, which was tasked with the project.
“Introducing a new type of locally rooted urban landscape, the project combines modernity alongside the emirate’s maritime and desert heritage in a coherent narrative that communicates between the site’s two contrasting buildings,” Cebra said.
"The project emphasises this duality by dividing the site diagonally into two contrasting landscapes. The design links the landscapes of the desert with that of the city to emphasise the significance of the relations between traditional Emirati culture, the nature of Abu Dhabi island and the modern metropolitan identity.”
A number of projects in the Gulf also make it to the shortlist, including Qatar’s Al Janoub Stadium by Zaha Hadid Architects, nominated in the Completed Buildings category under Sport.
Saudi Arabia's Ashar Electrification Project in Al Ula by Gio Forma, the coming E-Games Arena in Riyadh by M3N + BBA Designer & Consultants, Diriyah Gate in Riyadh and a private villa in Jeddah called Monolithic House by architecture firm Mi-nus were also nominated in the Future Projects category.
With last year's World Architecture Festival Awards cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's shortlist features projects completed between 2019 and 2021. Winners will be announced at the event, to be held from Wednesday to Friday, December 1 to 3 in Lisbon, Portugal, where the World Building of the Year will also be named.
Scroll through the gallery below for other projects from around the world named in the shortlist for the World Architecture Festival:
-
Operable Interactive Village Hut by XWG STUDIO Zhangjiakou, China. -
Musee Atelier Audemars Piguet by B.I.G. Architecture D.P.C. Le Brassus, Switzerland -
Deep Form of Designed Nature: Sanya Mangrove Park by Turenscape Sanya City, China -
Chinese Culture Exhibition Center by Qingdao Tengyuan Design Institute Co., Ltd Lanzhou, China. -
Liyang Museum by CROX Liyang City, Jiangsu Province, China -
Nanchang Waves by Nordic Office of Architecture Nanchang City, China -
Majara Residency by ZAV Architects Hormuz island, Iran. -
Otzi Peak 3251m Viewing Platform by noa* network of architecture in Schnals, Italy. -
Maggie's Leeds by Heatherwick Studio Leeds, United Kingdom -
Dysis Church of Poly Shallow Sea by Shanghai United Design Group Co.,Ltd. Sanya, China -
Microlibrary Warak Kayu by SHAU Semarang, Indonesia.
