19 Futuristic Buildings from the 2016 World Architecture Festival

Highlighting the world’s most exciting new buildings since 2008, the World Architecture Festival has released its 2016 awards shortlist. Jaw-dropping buildings from countries worldwide compete for prizes across 32 categories, including World Building of the Year and Future Project of the Year.

The entries in this year’s World Architecture Festival are diverse, with designs from 58 countries featured. The United Kingdom clocks in the most projects in 2016, while festival program director Paul Finch says that this year has seen increases in entries from Europe and North America.

With completed buildings sorted into categories such as Culture, Health, Office, and Transport, competing projects are varied. Cultural buildings frequently stand out with innovative designs: whether it’s a contemporary art museum in China, a folk museum in Norway, or a mountaintop museum in Italy, art spaces are perfect opportunities for architectural experimentation. But a close look at all the categories on display shows that these architects make room for creativity whether they’re designing a home, a research center, or a train station.

We’ve put together a gallery of 19 shortlisted buildings below. From classic to radically contemporary, this is a peek at the world’s best architecture in 2016.