Rome's MAXXI wins World Building of the Year

Rome's MAXXI, the national museum for 21st-century art and architecture, is the recipient of the 2010 World Architecture Festival (WAF) prize for the World Building of the Year. The accolade comes only a month after MAXXI won the British Stirling Prize for the building in Europe that has made the best contribution to British architecture.

The winning entry, designed by Zaha Hadid, was selected from a shortlist which included Norman Foster's Windspear Opera House in Dallas and Daniel Libeskind's Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin. The awards were presented in Barcelona and attracted more than 500 entries from 61 countries.

Zaha Hadid's concept for MAXXI was based around a