The Water Research Prize was awarded to a Greek research team, in the context of the World Festival of Architecture (WAF) of 2020.

Following a competitive process with nominations from research teams from around the world, the Prize was awarded in an online ceremony on December 2 to the research team led by Professor of the Department of Architecture at the University of Patras, Ms. Aikaterini Liapi. The other members of the research team are: Mr. Ioannis Sympetheros, Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, and Mrs. Kyra Papanikolaou, PhD candidate of the University of Patras.

The award is accompanied by a cash prize of 10,000£, sponsored by GROHE, to support the implementation of the research proposal. The object of the proposal was the development of a suspended, modular and lightweight facade system for buildings by evaporative cooling, using suspended rainwater (a suspended, modular and lightweight building facade system for evaporative cooling, using harvested rainwater).

The specific research team deals, in general, with issues of sustainable rainwater management in urban building blocks with the aim of improving the urban hydrological cycle and microclimate, promoting design proposals that lead to water-respecting cities (water sensitive cities), with funding from ELIDEK and the Onassis Foundation.