Projects hailed from countries including Iran, Syria, Sierra Leone, India, as well as Canada, Australia, the USA and the UK.

Nabil Gholam was both a nominee and a juror in this year's festival.

He says that the financial crisis has put a halt to the sometimes exaggerated eccentricities both demanded from clients and proposed by the architects.

Nabil Gholam, juror and nominee, said, "The tendencies this year - whilst I was a judge last year in the World Architecture Festival - is clear. There is more concern about the environment and buildings are becoming more reasonable to a certain degree. And the market has cut out a lot of the extremes, a lot of the craziness and the excess that was there during the last two or three years."

All 15 category winners were able to compete in the 2009 World Building of the Year Award.

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