Architectural Photography Competition: Geometric Abstraction Reveals Mysterious Journey Through Architecture

Architectural Photography Competition: Geometric Abstraction Reveals Mysterious Journey Through Architecture

This year’s AIA Architectural Photograph Competition (again sponsored by AIA St. Louis) puts a microscope on architectural form to create soothingly disorienting geometric abstraction. Iconic buildings known far and wide are hidden (yet uniquely expressed) through extreme contrasts of light and shadow, unheralded perspectives, and the reflections of their neighbors. The photos featured here take viewers on a mysterious journey through architecture, proving that while designing buildings might seem like a static art form, the potential to express architecture in unexpected new ways breathes life and vibrancy into bricks and mortar. First Place: “Flag” in Washington, D.C., photographed by Andrea Swartz from Muncie, Ind.

Second Place: “Kelly and Flavin (Pulitzer Foundation)” in St. Louis, photographed by Andrew Raimist, AIA, from St. Louis.

Third Place: “Organic Geometry” in Tiebele, Burkina Faso, photographed by Steven House, AIA, from San Francisco.

Fuller Award: “Custom House” in Boston photographed by Gregory Aiello, AIA, from New York City.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Abstracted Orientation” in Chicago, photographed by David Polk from Salt Lake City.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “View from the Arch”, in St. Louis, photographed by Andrew Raimist, AIA, from St. Louis.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Gaudi’s Twisted Dreams” in Barcelona, photographed by Michael B. Wilkes, FAIA, from La Jolla, Calif.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Need Paint” in Burano, Italy, photographed by Mark W. Hargett, AIA, from Wilson, N.C.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Frye Art Museum” in Seattle, photographed by Steven House, AIA, from San Francisco.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Amsterdam Parallels” in Amsterdam, photographed by Sarah Mechling, Assoc. AIA, from New York City.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Thompson” in Toronto, photographed by Gregory Aiello, AIA, from New York City.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “22” in Santa Fe, N. Mex., photographed by Scott R. Bonney, AIA, from Birmingham, Mich.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “Oriental El Dorado” in Tokyo, photographed by Henry E. Sorenson Jr., Assoc. AIA, from Bozeman, Mont.

Judges’ Special Commendation Awards: “B Waves” in Miami Beach, Fla., photographed by Thomas V. Lawrence, AIA, from Seattle.

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