The program for the 2016 edition of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) has been announced. Being held from November 16-18 at the Arena Berlin, Germany, the festival will feature 3 days and 4 nights of events including conferences, lectures and seminars, architect-led city tours and networking opportunities, as well as live critiques of the 411 projects shortlisted for the 2016 WAF Awards. An all-star list of speakers will include leading architectural figures such as Patrik Schumacher, Ole Scheeren and Peter Cook.
This theme of this year’s festival is “Housing For Everyone.” Inspired by a variety of influences, markedly the condition of displaced communities of political and disaster refugees, lectures will focus on “the growing understanding of how demographics and global urbanization are forcing change; and the imperatives to create shelter at one end of the spectrum, and sufficiency for occupation and investment at the other.”
Keynote speakers will end each night with an hour long lecture or discussion. On Wednesday, filmmaker Hubertus Siegert will talk to Louisa Hutton, Principal of Sauerbruch Hutton, about his acclaimed 2001 film “Berlin Babylon” and the continued reconstruction of Berlin from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present day. Thursday, Zaha Hadid Architects director Patrik Schumacher will examine the typology of housing as architecture, looking beyond the current discourse typically focused on politics, migration, urbanization and numbers. Wrapping up proceedings on Friday will be Sir Christopher Frayling, historian, critic, broadcaster, and Chancellor of the University of the Arts, Bournemouth, discussing film, architecture and the city of Berlin.
Other speakers include
Gereon Uerz, Leader Foresight Europe, Arup Foresight
Jan Wurm, Leader Research Europe, Arup Foresight
Monica von Schmalensee, Principal, White
Ivan Harbour, Principal, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Tristram Carfrae, Group Board Director, Arup
Peter Ahrends, Principal, ABK
Wong Chiu Man, Principal, Wow Architects
Axel Kaiser, Head of Global Product Management Building Automation, ABB/Busch-Jaeger
James Pickard, Principal, Cartwright Pickard
Professor Bernd Wegener, Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University
Tom Alexander, Director, Aukett Swanke
Sam Bernard, Global Product Development Director, Dyson
Eva Maria Barkhofen, Head of Department, Berlin Kunst Academy manager of the Scharoun Archive Architectural Drafts
Richard Hassell, Principal, Woha
Niklas Maak, Arts Editor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Stefan Behnisch, Principal, Behnisch Architekten
David Dunster, Professor of Architecture, University of Liverpool
In addition to the Arena Berlin events, the WAF will offer architect-led tours of the city by Niche Berlin, a city guide company that focuses on introducing visitors to contemporary and hard-to-find architectural gems, including access to normally restricted destinations. The tours will present both important and under-appreciated building projects, as well as their history and context within the city and the history of architecture as a whole.
Attendees will also be welcome to attend the live project critiques, WAF’s Gala Dinner and late-night drinks. Additionally, the Festival Hall will provide the opportunity to meet with suppliers and manufacturers, and will feature installations and product showcases.
More information about the event can be found in the online event brochure.
A full list of city tours and additional information is available here.
