The Ferdinand E. Marcos (FEM) Memorial Stadium in this city has been shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) to be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

WAF is the largest global live awards event for architects and designers, according to its website.

Under the sport-completed buildings category, the newly-rehabilitated stadium, which is one of the “Big 3” projects of the Ilocos Norte government, will be presented live in Singapore during the event.

“We are delighted to share that our project has been shortlisted for world arch fest in the World Architecture Festival. Another milestone in our push for a more open and barrier-free social architecture,” architect William Ti, the consulting architect of the FEM stadium, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The internationally awarded urban planner said the Marcos Stadium’s exterior walls carried the motif of an “abel,” a popular Ilocano handwoven cloth. It features the “binakol” or whirlwind pattern, rendered in a supersized scale and easily identifiable through its uniform interconnecting geometric design.

The international award-giving body Architizer A+ first noticed the stadium earlier this year.

According to its website, “Architizer’s Special Mention honorees are regarded as a worldwide industry leader for architecture and design.”

The award validates superior work and gives well-deserved recognition to the people behind such architectural masterpieces.

Among the thousands of projects submitted, less than 5 percent are chosen as Special Mention honorees, the Architizer A+ website said.

The new stadium has a seating capacity of more than 12,000, occupying around 43,820 square meters of land, and is now becoming a favorite go-to place for runners and sports-enthusiast.

The stadium features an open southern end, which includes an outdoor amphitheater and a sloping lawn that leads to the university belt.

As the Ilocos Region’s largest public space, the stadium is being lobbied by the Ilocos Norte government as the possible venue for the 2025 Palarong Pambansa to further promote the province’s world-class facility and boost its sports tourism program here and abroad. (PNA)