A museum built in precast concrete almost entirely underground with a vast public space above won the title World Building of the Year 2016 at the World Architecture Festival.

Polish architect Robert Konieczny of KWK Promes designed the National Museum in Szczecin which a panel of judges awarded because it "enriches the city and the life of the city".

"This is a piece of topography as well as a museum," they said. "To go underground is to explore the memory and archaeology of the city, while above ground the public face of the building, including its undulating roof, and be interpreted and used in a variety of ways."

"This is a design which addresses the past in an optimistic, poetic and imaginative way."