New York and Singapore take center-stage at this year’s International Highrise Award, a biannually celebrated architecture trophy hosted by the city of Frankfurt am Main in Germany.Geographically restricted as they may be location-wise, the 2016 finalists once again represent a variety of aspects in contemporary high-rise architecture, from Japanese Pritzker Laureate Fumihiko Maki & Associates’ s minimalistic  The Four World Trade Center in New York to Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue in New York—currently the highest residential building worldwide—and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)’s much lauded “courtscraper” VIA 57 West in New York, to Moshe Safdie Architects’s vertical village SkyHabitat in Singapore, and WOHA Architects’ densely populated yet highly livable SkyVille@Dawson, also in Singapore.Initiated in 2003 by the city of Frankfurt, alongside the German Museum for Architecture DAM – Deutsches Architekturmuseum, and Deka Bank, the international award with a prize money of €50,000 (roughly $55,000) honors high-rise buildings featuring “exemplary sustainability, external shape and internal spatial quality [as well as] social aspects, to create a model designs,” and is awarded jointly to planners and developers.To qualify for “the world’s most important prize for high-rises,” buildings have to present at least 100 m (328 ft) in height and must have been completed in the previous two years.  The finalists are chosen by an interdisciplinary jury of architects, structural engineers, real-estate experts, and architecture critics. Previous laureates include the Bosco Verticale in Milan by  Boeri Studio and Hines Italia (2014);  New York Hearst Building by Foster + Partners and the Hearst Corporation as the developer (2008), and the Torre Agbar in Barcelona by Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Layetana as the developer (2006).  The final winner for 2016 will be announced and honored in a ceremony on November 2 in Frankfurt.Find out more about this year’s International Highrise Award finalists and their projects in the slide show. Read more