See the cutting-edge designs from winners of the 2024 World Architecture Festival ‘Smart Cities’ category
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How do we envision the future of some of the world’s largest cities? This question, albeit viewed through an architectural lens, is one answered masterfully by the winners of the World Architecture Festival ‘Smart Cities’ awards.
In its 10th year, the World Architecture Festival has presented WAFX awards to architectural proposals that offer cutting edge design combined with an ability to address major world issues, such as climate change, ethics and technology. The four winners of the ‘Smart Cities’ category – ranging from proposals in Shanghai to a future vision for London’s Waterloo and South Bank stations – demonstrate how tackling cultural and societal issues can be supported through pushing the frontier of modern architecture.
1. Lingang Open Zone Station TOD project – Shanghai, China
Benoy’s proposal is for a station to be built in the independent satellite city of Lingang New City, in Shanghai. The station would offer two express lines to cater for both tourists and residents: one direct to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and another connecting the core area of Dishui Lake. With a streamlined shape to improve visibility of nearby retail stores, the station will also incorporate elevated sky blocks to ensure that it blends seamlessly with the surrounding areas and open green park.
2. Centipede – Istanbul, Türkiye
The Centipede project, led by Emre Arolat Architecture, seeks to tackle the complex issue of ensuring sustainable transportation options are available to rapidly increasing metropolitan populations. For Istanbul, the architectural team note that interruption of pedestrian flow is a key urban problem in the city. The city’s hilly topography, and lack of urban infrastructure, poses difficulty to pedestrians. However, the project seeks to shape infrastructure around such problems and deficencies, creating new pathways, overpasses and underground connection points to ensure linear routes can be made between currently separated roads.
3. Future Vision for London Waterloo Station and South Bank – London, England
Led by Grimshaw, this future vision considers social and economic factors within the surrounding area of London Waterloo Station and South Bank to influence its architectural choices. The proposal offers more than 40 enhanced walking and cycling routes, as well as redesigned concourses to improve passenger flow. Additionally, 1.900sqm of new green space is planned to be created around the station, with proposals for hundreds of new trees.
4. Knowledge Economic City – Madinah, Saudi Arabia
This project, headed by DLR Group, seeks to think critically about the implementation of architecture within the Middle East, rather than solely focusing on ambitious builds alone. By building a city centred around existing institutions that are already present in Madinah, the proposal outlines a plan to concentrate goods, services and knowledge around a new high-speed railway station. Neighbourhoods situated around parks, and interconnected by an unbroken green network, allows leisure and a positive lifestyle to remain at the city’s forefront. In addition, promenade gardens, uninterrupted cycling, and walkable networks ensure that the city will be comfortable for future residents.
View all the WAFX 2024 winners here.
