A psychedelic Spanish waterfront scheme and a halo-shaped viewing platform proposed for Norway have taken out this year’s World Architecture News (WAN) awards for Urban Design.
According to WAN, both the ‘Built’ and ‘Unbuilt’ category awards juries chose winners for similar reasons - bravery in design and artistic conceptualisation.
Unbuilt
The unbuilt jury was reportedly enraptured by Code: arkitektur as’s halo-shaped viewing platform ‘teetering on the edge’ of Vøringsfossen waterfalls in Eidfjord, Norway.
“For me this is the winner - it’s the best by a country mile because it is so different and has a real wow factor to it. Not different in a crass way, but it’s imaginative, said judge Clive Dutton, executive director for Regeneration, Planning and Property at the London Borough of Newham.
Built
The Office of Architecture in Barcelona’s psychedelic Benidorm Waterfront scheme won this year’s title with Martha Schwarz, Principal of Martha Schwartz Partners Ltd, saying: “This is brilliant - this is one of the best things ever built - ever! In my humble opinion...”.
Both panels applauded the level of bravery displayed in design approaches and applauded the open-mindedness regarding the building locations.
Images: WAN
