Winning 2025 WAFX Prize designs respond to global challenges

Following the release of the World Architecture Festival Award 2025 shortlist earlier this month, the winning designs of this year's WAFX Prize awards have now also been revealed. The jury selected 28 projects in 10 categories from around the world that best employed architecture and design to address pressing challenges, such as climate change, aging & health, technology, and re-use.

Learn more about the winners below and watch all of them present live at the upcoming World Architecture Festival taking place in Miami this year from November 12–14. The overall 2025 WAFX winner will be announced on the final day of the festival. Stay tuned for our coverage.

Aging and Health

• Echoes of the Void by Segmento Urbano in Povoação, Ilha de São Miguel, Portugal
• Doswell Nexus Recovery Center by HKS in Dallas, Texas
• VA El Paso Heathcare Center by HKS Architects (SmithGroup + HKS Joint Venture) in El Paso, Texas 
• Health Centre – Polo de Saúde de Évora by CLOU architects in Évora, Portugal

Building Technology

• Bond Redux by 5468796 Architecture Inc. in Winnipeg, Canada
• Regenerative Tree by NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD in Tokyo, Japan
• Floating School by UArchitects / Misak Terzibasiyan in Shyamnagar, Bangladesh

Carbon, Energy and Climate

• Da Nang Waste-to-energy Plant by VTN Architects in Da Nang, Vietnam
• Viet Tri House by VTN Architects in Phu Tho, Vietnam
• Project Rise - Lumenis by HKS Architects in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cultural Identity

• Islamic World District Grand mosque complex by Pinnacle Design Studio in Madinnah, Saudi Arabia
• The Woodson African American Museum of Florida by STORYN Studio for Architecture in St. Petersburg, Florida
• Gelephu International Airport by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group in Gelephu, Bhutan
• Te Ara Tukutuku by LandLAB + SCAPE in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand

Digital Worlds

• Neural Palate Kueh (Tasting Architecture with AI) by Artificial-Architecture, Singapore University of Technology and Design in Singapore 
• Rio AI City by Hyphen in Río de Janeiro, Brazil

Ethics and Values

• Matay Masterplan by Foster + Partners in Antakya, Turkey
• Canadian School by Sordo Madaleno in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
• Nested Arc, Creative Community no. 1 by Form4 Architecture in Reno, Nevada 

Food

Kamdhenu (“कामधेनु”) is a Sanskrit / HIndi word that translate to “Divine Cow” symbolizing Abundance. (Reimagining Cow Welfare: A Harmonious Fusion of Tradition, Sustainability & Future Dairy Design) by tHE gRID Architects in Ahmedabad, India

Power and Justice

• The Other City: Reimagining Gulf Labor Camps as Creative Campuses by Design and More International in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Shahrzad Mixed-Use Building by Boozhgan Architecture Studio in Tehran, Iran

Re-use

• ONE - The Living Archive by Rawasem Architecture Workshop in Antananarivo, Madagascar
• The Truman Brewery by Buckley Gray Yeoman in London, United Kingdom
• Nova (The New School Museum): Adaptive Reuse of Two Industrial Buildings for mixed use by FractalView Studio in Oakland, California 
• Cologne Art Tower by TCHOBAN VOSS Architekten GmbH in Cologne, Germany

Smart Cities

• Muscat Structure Plan by Broadway Malyan in Muscat, Oman
• Jieyang City Strategic Masterplan and Huilai County Concept Plan and Urban Design by Morrow Architects and Planners in Jieyang City, China