Luigi Bocconi University, in Milan, designed by Ireland's Grafton Architects, recently was named the World Building of the Year.

Tickets ranged from 350 euros for a one-day pass to 700 euros for a three-day pass. The festival featured lectures, seminars, a product showcase, and architectural tours of the area. The core of the festival—and perhaps its greatest success—was a new awards program, billed by organizers as the largest architectural awards program in the world. Prizes were given in 17 categories for projects completed between January 1, 2007, and June 20, 2008; the winners in each of those categories competed for the title of World Building of the Year. “Most other architecture awards are either geographically limited,” Finch says, “or they’re awards looking at architecture from one perspective like environmental design. But architects don’t just design things in one area or from one perspective.”