WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring
The winners of the 2017 Architectural Photography Awards, sponsored by Sto and supported by the World Architecture Festival and Image+Space, have been announced, and include local photographer Adam Letch’s image of Bosjes.
After sifting through thousands of photographs in two rounds of judging, the list was narrowed down to 20 images. The winning photograph was decided on by visitors to this year’s World Architecture Festival.
“I have had the honour to judge this prize and curate the resulting ‘Building Images’ exhibition for the last five years, and in that time we have seen the scope of the prize grow year-on-year,” says principal judge Amy Croft. “2017’s entries are remarkable in their global reach: from Burning Man in the Nevada desert to a housing estate in Beijing, from an art museum in Denmark to a chapel in Cape Town. This truly global view the prize offers us, stands as a reminder of the skill of architectural photography to communicate not only the image of buildings, but evoking their atmosphere, usage and social/cultural contexts.”
The overall award for the world’s best architectural photograph went to Chinese photographer Terrence Zhang for his image of the swimming pool at Tianjin University’s New Campus, designed by Atelier Li Xianggang.
Runners-up included South African photographer Adam Letch’s image of the striking Bosjes chapel in Ceres, designed by Steyn Studio, coming top in the Exterior category.
The winner of the Buildings in Use category also went to Terrence Zhang for his image of the gymnasium at Tianjin University’s New Campus.
In the Sense of Place category, the top spot went to Tom Roe’s photograph of Messner Mountain Museum Corones in Italy, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.