World Architecture Festival announces finalists for The Architectural Photography Awards 2019

A clever reflection of the main hall at the Victoria and Albert Museum and an aerial view of the Camp Adventure Observation Tower in Gisselfeld Klosters Forest, Denmark are among 24 finalists announced this week for The Architectural Photography Awards 2019, supported by the World Architecture Festival (WAF) and sponsored by Sto.

The 24 shortlisted photographs will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Amsterdam, which takes place from 4-6 December 2019. Here, WAF visitors can cast their vote from the chosen finalists in the six main categories. The winners of the people’s choice vote, and those of the pre-judged categories of Mobile and Portfolio, will be revealed at the WAF Gala dinner on Friday 6th December, along with the overall winner. The judging panel includes John McElgunn, Partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; Pawel Paniczko, the overall and portfolio category winner of The Architectural Photography Awards 2018 and Ben van Berkel, Principal Architect of UNStudio and Founder of UNSense.

Held as an annual celebration of the best architectural photography, the awards attracted 2,000 entries from 42 countries, with the highest proportion (29%) from the UK. Four finalists have been shortlisted in each of the four categories of Exteriors, Interiors, Sense of Place and Buildings in Use. In the Portfolio category, judges will assess entries of six photographs relating to one architectural project within the theme of social housing. In the Mobile category for photographs taken on a mobile device, the theme is shelter and there will be two winners – the judges’ choice and a public choice. Public voting for this is open until 12pm Friday 6th December and can be viewed here.

Shortlisted photographs reflect the truly international spread of entries, with finalists including entrants from China, US, Denmark and the UK.

The widely eclectic entries varied from cultural buildings such as The Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal captured by Inge Schuster, to images of brand new display buildings such as Thomas Heatherwick’s The Vessel. The Twist Museum (designed by Bjarke Ingels Group) within Kistefos Sculpture Park, Jevnaker, Norway also proved popular having been selected as a finalist in the Exterior category and the Sense of Place category.

While most of the shortlisted images are devoid of inhabitants, a few have combined architectural themes with human interest. Laurian Ghinitoiu’s image, shortlisted in the ‘Buildings in Use’ category, depicts visitors resting on the edges of Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania, whilst Yi-Hsien Lee captures workers congregating on the balconies of an office block in Tokyo, Japan.

Several highly abstract images including Marco Tagliarino’s detail shot of the façade of Zaha Hadid’s Generali Tower in Milan, Italy contrast with landscape views showing the buildings in the context of their location. These include China Resources Headquarters, Shenzhen, China photographed by Su Zhewei and shortlisted for the ‘Exterior’ category.

The photographer of the overall winning image from the four main categories  will receive a cash prize of $3000. The Portfolio winner receiving $1000 and the two Mobile winners $250 each.

WAF 2019 is a three day festival including awards, conference programme and a celebratory gala dinner.

The full shortlist and all images for The Architectural Photography Awards 2019 can be viewed and downloaded here.

For further details on the World Architecture Festival please visit: www.worldarchitecturefestival.com