When you’re judging thousands of architectural projects from all around the world, even the process of narrowing down the shortlist to 535 has got to be hard. This year, the World Architectural Festival (WAF) had its biggest year yet with submissions from 81 countries, and in November, the shortlisted teams presented their designs to a jury of more than 100 international judges in Amsterdam. More than 35 winners took home prizes in categories like Small Project of the Year, Use of Color Prize, Use of Certified Timber Prize and Leisure-Led Development. Here are 10 standouts from those winners, including the World Building of the Year – see the rest at the WAF website.

World Building of the Year 2018, supported by GROHE: WOHA Architects – Kampung Admiralty, Singapore, Singapore

WOHA landed the top prize with Kampung Admiralty, a cascading complex of greenery bringing public facilities and services together in Singapore. Designed to maximize land use and meet the needs of the island nation’s aging population, the project layers a community plaza, medical center, community park and other healthcare, social and commercial functions along with apartments for seniors. Its lush, elevated green village enhances the quality of life of its residents and enables plenty of cross ventilation and daylight, all on a tight plot of less than a hectare (about 2.5 acres) with a hight limit of 45 meters (147 feet.)

Glass Future Prize, supported by Guardian Glass, WINNER: Studio Gang, Tour Montparnasse / Paris, France

Winner of the Glass Future Prize, Studio Gang’s vision for Tour Montparnasse Tower aims to redesign the French capital’s infamously “ugly” building to transform it into a new 21st century landmark. Not only are the twisting facets of the skyscraper visually dynamic, lending it a shimmering effect, they help shade the interiors and make the structure more resistant to wind. The transparent base of the tower helps blur the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, and it’s full of cascading gardens, open-air markets, shops and spaces for large events.

Landscape of the Year WINNER 2018: Batlle i Roig Arquitectura – Pedestrian Path along the Gypsum Mines, Barcelona, Spain

A dynamic new path cuts through the hillside in Barcelona, leading from a lookout point that gazes out at the city of Igualada to an old complex of gypsum mines below. Designed by Battlle i Roig Arquitectura, the Lookout Path is part of the larger scheme of the Igualada Green Ring, which aims to create a green belt for pedestrians and bicycles around Barcalona’s perimeter. The zig-zagging track includes luminescent concrete paving for a blue-green glow after dark.

Culture – Completed Buildings Winner: Conrad Gargett – The Piano Mill, Stanthorpe, Australia

Australian practice Conrad Gargett won the Culture category with The Piano Mill, a new structure in Queensland that addresses the intersection of architecture’s role in the environment of cultural buildings. “This authentically Australian project celebrates the culture of early colonial settlement in our country, demonstrates an entwined collaboration of art, music and architecture, as well as pioneering music composition,” says architect Bruce Wolf, Conrad Gargett’s Company Chair. The building functions as an art installation, an oversized musical instrument and a “performance machine,” containing sixteen pianos tuned radar blades and sonic periscopes set on elevated balconies around a three-story void.

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Best Of The Year 10 Projects Honored At World Architecture Festival 2018

Normally, a new structure is safe from the wrecking ball so long as it is structurally sound, but not so with 15 Clerkenwell Close, a housing block that is at issue for reasons of appearance rather than engineering (and despite recently winning an RIBA award). Designed by architect Amin Taha, the six-story facade features raw quarried limestone stone (with exposed fossils) that the Islington Council argues was not adequately represented in planning documents, and therefore never properly approved. Taha also lives in the threatened building.

But there may be more to the story: Taha believes the decision to demolish was led by the planning committee chair not for failure to disclose but rather a personal dislike for the building’s unusual visual expression. He says it is “entirely on the initial opinion of the councillor and a handful of neighbours” and that it “has now escalated from an error in not uploading the stone approval – so that it was evident for anyone who cared to look – to the mistaken first demolition notice, to the now face-saving second notice entirely driven by someone’s opinion that it’s ugly.”

“After an investigation, the council has come to the view that the building at 15 Clerkenwell Close does not reflect the building that was granted planning permission and conservation area consent in 2013,” an Islington Council spokesperson said. “In the council’s view, the existing building does not benefit from planning permission, and the council issued an enforcement notice” earlier this year.

The building has drawn both praise and criticism, having been nominated for the Carbuncle Cup (a “worst building” award in the UK) while also being nominated for other more positive awards. But there’s a deeper question at work here: how much say should communities have in the appearance of new structures around them? Aesthetic-based choices made by citizens can result in truly powerful architecture never seeing the light of day, or in this case: being threatened with destruction despite being perfectly functional. In the end, too, if the building facade is deemed by the council to be too offensive to stand, why not simply demand that it be reworked into some kind of compromise? (images by Timothy Soar)

Among the winners and honorable mentions from the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest are an expected array of wilderness scenes and animal portraits, but also a surprising number of unnatural environments.

Over 12,000 submissions for this year’s competition included mesmerizing images of art installations, aerial views of urban architecture, suspenseful shots of elegant bridges and window-reflected construction scenes.

Even some photographs of purely natural places seem strikingly architectural, like this photo of rocks carefully perched on eroding earthen columns.

Above: People’s Choice, “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” by Daniel Cheung; Honorable Mention, “Alone in the Crowds” by Gary Cummins; Third Place Winner, “Reflection” by Gaanesh Prasad; Nature:Third Place Winner, “Mars” by Marco Grassi.

Even rather mundane settings can make for wonderful photos. Above and below: People’s Choice, “Traveling to Heaven” by Trikansh Sharma; Cities: First Place Winner, “Another Rainy Day in Nagasaki” by Hiro Kurashina.  (via Colossal).

An understated but award-winning Modernist dwelling design in São Paulo, Brazil, has turned a narrow lot into a lovely and low-cost habitat suited to the needs of its poor and elderly inhabitant. Terra e Tuma Arquitetos (images by Pedro Kok) used low-budget materials and simple design techniques to avoid depleting the widowed owner’s funds.

Structural concrete block was used to create both retaining and interior walls of the Vila Matilde, forming a kitchen, bedroom, living room and courtyard garden space on the main floor. The gaps between blocks are left exposed, adding a layer of smaller detail on the otherwise-monolithic surfaces.

A guest room was intentionally situated above, given the age of the occupant and her increased difficulty in getting up stairs. Metal and glass windows, doors and balcony railings are kept slim and functional on both levels.

In many ways, this home is quite aligned with regional vernacular, situated on the thin site and those elongated and with reduced hallway space (since corridors can dovetail with other uses), as well a deck above.

The project had to contend with demolishing the old and structurally-unsound home previously on the 15-foot-wide lot. During the reconstruction, the owner went to live with a relative.

Indeed, part of her reasoning behind staying in the house was the abundance of family in the area. Rebuilding let her stay close to loved ones in a home of her own. All in all, this project is a great example of how architecture can help those of limited means live in something individualized and well-designed to their needs.

Inspired by the complex organic shape of a volcanic eruption, this 1,086-piece pavilion in Beijing has just been awarded a Guinness Book of World Records distinction for the largest 3D-printed structure in the world.

Created by the Laboratory for Creative Design, the VULCAN stands nearly 10 feet tall and spans 24 feet across, named after the Latin name for the Roman god of fire.

Its robust geometric components reference the divine, while a fragile web of cocoon-inspired interconnections between panels are inspired by man.

Human-scaled arches overhang an open space below, formed by three ramping forms flanking each entry and rising up from fragile points of floor contact.

Th endeavor took 30 days and 20 large-scale 3D printers to complete, then 15 people for 12 days to assemble the pieces on site into the whole pavilion.

“VULCAN represents a new reality – that modern architects are able to achieve their ideal design quality from concept to construction using digital design and fabrication methodologies,” said Yu Lei at Beijing Design Week. “This development will increasingly blur the boundaries between technology and art.”