A community space in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, designed by local firm a21studio was named World Building of the Year 2014 at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Singapore, 3 October. 

The building, created using recycled materials and colourful fabric, was designed based on the model of a traditional Vietnamese neighbourhood building. Constructed on a tight budget, the multi-purpose space and youth centre was constructed using steel framing (a tree-shaped column supports the roof in the centre of the space) and metal sheets left over from the owner’s previous projects. Layers of coloured fabrics cover the windows, creating a rainbow of light in the interior space.

The project beat 16 other category winners from day one and day two of the festival. 

Day three winners include: 

• World Building of the Year: The Chapel, Vietnam, by a21studio
• Future Project of the Year: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada, by 5468796 Architecture + number TEN architectural group
• Landscape of the Year: National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer
• Small Project of the Year: The Pinch, China, by Olivier Ottevaere and John Lin from The University of Hong Kong
• Wood Excellence Prize: Alex Monroe Studio, Snowsfields, UK,  DSDHA
• Exterior Colour Prize: Departments Of Law And Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, by Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau
• Stars of the future: Students from Ho Chi Minh University of Architecture, Vietnam, Return - The storage of natural life project
• World Interior of the Year: MOTT32, Hong Kong, by Joyce Wang Studio