One of the renowned architectural events in the world, the World Architecture Festival is due to take place and the UAE and has made sure it marks its presence in the grant event. The UAE has secured itself six nominations at the World Architecture Festival.

Six projects from the UAE, including Abu Dhabi’s currently under construction Zayed National Museum, have made it to the list, winners of which will be declared in the month of December in Lisbon, Portugal, where the World Building of the Year will also be named.

The list that spans two main categories – Completed Buildings and Future Projects, comprises more than 400 entries from around the world.

The Zayed National Museum, which also won the festival’s Cultural Identity award previously has been shortlisted under the Future Projects category. Designed by UK architects Foster + Partners, it is distinguished by a cluster of five steel towers that soar into the sky, some as tall as 123 meters that spread like the wings of the falcon, the UAE’s national bird.

Other buildings that have made it to the list of nominations include House of Wisdom, based in Sharjah, and is also designed by Foster + Partners. The cultural destination was commissioned in honour of the city being named the World Book Capital in 2019 by UNESCO.

The brainchild of Hopkins Architects, the Sharjah-based structure, the Buhais Geology Museum is also a part of the list. The Sharjah-based structure in the UAE features five interconnected pods of varying sizes that house exhibition areas, a theatre, a café, and a gift shop.

The Ternion Villas situated in Kuwait were designed by Studio Toggle and are stacked in prismatic volumes, reshaping the traditional Arab residential block.

Even, Expo 2020 Dubai’s Sustainability Pavilion, Terra by Grimshaw Architects, has been nominated in the Display section under Completed Buildings.

The Zaha Hadid Architects-designed sports stadium—Al- Janoub Stadium that will host matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has also been shortlisted. It is one of the eight venues for the highly-anticipated sporting event.

Abu Dhabi’s 27,500-square-metre Al Fay Park, which boasts more than 2,000 native trees, also makes it to the shortlist, under the Landscape –Urban Context section in the Completed Buildings category.

While last year the World Architecture Festival Awards was canceled owing to the coronavirus pandemic, this year's shortlist features projects completed between 2019 and 2021 and will take place from December 1 to 3 in Lisbon, Portugal.