Just as with any architectural work , a multitude of elements combine to make the perfect photograph. Beyond finding aesthetic inspiration, finding symmetry and paying exacting attention to lighting and the interplay of the elements is crucial.
Shanghai-based photographer Terrence Zhang captured all of those elements in his work that won the overall architectural photography prize at this year’s World Architecture Festival . His photograph of the swimming pool at the New Campus of Tianjin University vividly reflects how the space’s oval windows diffuse light over the water, simultaneously capturing the interplay between the barrel-vaulted ceiling’s cold austerity alongside the natural elements of light and water.
It was one of three photographs by Zhang that were shortlisted for the WAF’s Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards. In addition to the pool photo, Zhang also earned shortlist honors for his images of Tianjin University’s gymnasium and the Kengo Kuma–designed folk art galleries at the China Academy of Arts. Among other selections exhibited in the Berlin event last week were photographs of a Zaha Hadid Architects–designed museum tucked into an Italian mountaintop and a chapel outside of Cape Town with an undulating roof envisioned by Steyn Studio.
Zhang’s work and the other shortlisted photographs will move from Berlin to London, where they’ll be on display at Sto Werkstatt , an exhibition space curated by acoustic systems company Sto.
