World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2026

World Architecture Festival 2026 is presented as an international architecture and design forum centred on live project critique, peer review and industry discussion. The event’s main conference theme is “Water”, framing the programme around the relationship between water and the built environment. Key focus areas include energy generation, food production, flooding and drought, health and hygiene, and the ways architecture and infrastructure both respond to and shape water systems.

A core element of the festival is its live-judged awards programme. The awards span 43 categories across completed buildings, future projects, interiors and landscape, with live presentations remaining a defining feature of participation. The broader programme also includes WAF Interiors, which covers nine interior design categories, and WAFX, which recognises proposals that address major global issues such as health, climate change, technology, ethics and values. Additional strands extend the event’s reach beyond architectural practice, including the Student Charrette for architecture students and the GROHE Water Prize for design and research focused on water in relation to buildings and the built environment.

The festival is aimed primarily at the global architecture and design sector, including senior architects, designers, practice leaders and suppliers, while also engaging emerging practitioners and specialist contributors across the wider built environment. Its format combines seminars, keynotes, live judging, a product exhibition and professional networking, positioning discussion and scrutiny of built work at the centre of the programme.

At the time the programme was reviewed, the conference speaker line-up had not yet been published. The named participants available were judges and programme-related contributors. The 2026 judges page lists 164 judges from 37 countries. Super-jury members identified on the site include Fernando Menis of Fernando Menis SLPU and Marlon Blackwell of Marlon Blackwell Architects for the World Building Super Jury; Cazú Zegers of Cazú Zegers Architecture, Murat Tabanlioglu of +MURAT TABANLIOGLU, Olga Bolshanina of Herzog & de Meuron and Rene Tan of RT+Q Architects for the Future Project Super Jury; Johnny Chiu of JC. Architecture & Design for WAF Interiors, and Mary Bowman of Gustafson Porter + Bowman and Matt Grunbaum of Field Operations for Landscape.

Organisations named as part of the programme include founder partner GROHE; special prize supporters VELUX, ROCKWOOL, Turkish Stones and the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust; Broadway Malyan, which supports the Student Charrette; and Make Architects and Sir John Soane’s Museum, which co-curate the Architecture Drawing Prize. Taken together, the festival is structured as a single international platform linking awards, thematic debate and professional review across architecture, interiors, landscape and research.