Courtesy Qingdao Tengyuan Design Institute Co., Ltd
Located in the Chinese city of Lanzhou, the Chinese Culture Exhibition Center, by Qingdao Tenyuan Design and ECA2, is nestled between traditional villages and natural landscapes. Scroll through the gallery to see more projects from the WAF Awards shortlist.
Courtesy ZAV Architects
The colorful abodes of ZAV Architects' Majara Residence have been designed to bridge tourism with the local community in Iran's Hormuz Island.
Courtesy Nordic Office of Architecture
Serving as a community center and observation deck, Nordic Office of Architecture's Nanchang Waves, in the Chinese city of Nanchang, features a double helix-inspired design.
Courtesy B.I.G. Architecture D.P.C
Designed by BIG, Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet is a watchmaking museum in the remote Swiss mountain town of Le Brassus.
Courtesy CEBRA Abu Dhabi
CEBRA Architecture preserved a historic building in Abu Dhabi while reimagining the space around it.
Courtesy Turenscape
Restored by architecture firm Turenscape, this park in Sanya, China, was nominated in one of the awards' two landscape categories.
Courtesy Heatherwick Studio
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, Maggie's Centre provides support for cancer patients. It's located on the campus of St. James's University Hospital in Leeds, United Kingdom.
Courtesy CROX
CROX's Liyang Museum in China's Jiangsu province mimics the surrounding terrain.
Courtesy Shanghai United Design Group Co.,Ltd.
Designed by Shanghai United Design Group, this triangular structure sits in a pool of water above the Dysis Church of Poly Shallow Sea, in the Chinese seaside city of Sanya.
Courtesy Grimshaw
Designed by Grimshaw Architects, Terra serves as the sustainability pavilion at the delayed 2020 Dubai Expo, which is set to open in October.
Courtesy Broissin Architects
Egaligilo, by Broissin Architects, is a pavilion at Mexico City's Musee Tamayo that generates a cloudy microclimate in its interior.
Courtesy SHAU
Microlibrary Warak Kayu, in the Indonesian city of Semarang, is a multi-use community space designed by architecture firm SHAU to promote reading and literacy in a low-income neighborhood.
Courtesy network of architecture
The Ötzi Peak Observation Deck, by Noa* (Network of Architecture), hovers over 10,000 feet above sea level on a glacier in Northern Italy's Schnalstal Valley.
Courtesy XWG STUDIO
XWG Studio's tourist reception center is located in Zhangjiakou, which will host a number of events at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Courtesy Hopkins Architects
Hopkins Architects nestled the Buhais Geology Park in a former seabed basin in the al-Madam Plain, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
CNN  — 

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has unveiled its prestigious shortlist of the best new buildings and landscape designs from around the globe.

The 200-strong list spans commercial, residential and cultural projects, including the sweeping open-air Chinese Culture Exhibition Center in Lanzhou and a plan to preserve Abu Dhabi’s oldest building, the Qasr Al Hosn Fort. In the Chinese seaside city of Sanya, meanwhile, a verdant mangrove park has been restored after three decades of pollution and development.

But smaller, farther-flung endeavors were also recognized. In the remote Swiss Jura Mountains, a whimsical green-topped spiral rises out of the landscape, housing a new museum by luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet. And off the coast of Iran, on Hormuz Island, a crop of colorful domed tourist residences aims to connect visitors to the local community.

With last year’s WAF Awards canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s shortlist features architectural projects completed globally between 2019 and 2021. Winners will be decided at the festival in December, when more than 100 judges will convene in Lisbon, Portugal, to decide the individual category awards – and to crown one project World Building of the Year.

Scroll through the gallery above to see a selection of projects from the WAF Awards 2021 shortlist.