Italian photographer Francesca Pompei, with her shot Sharada #4, is the winner of the New Buildings 2021 special prize, promoted for the second year in a row by URBAN Photo Awards in partnership with Matrix4Design, and dedicated to the icons of architecture that have changed the face of cities over the past decade.

The photo, selected by Matrix4Design editor Andrea Boni, portrays the Ceremonial Court in Education City of Doha (Qatar), designed by Arata Isozaki Architects.‍

“In the composition”, explains Boni, “the eye is guided in a vertical movement towards the streets of light drawn in height as in a parallel between high and low, sky and water, the wings. The finely decorated railing draws limits and creative possibilities to the stage. On the other hand, the length, width and depth of the spaces defined by the architect arrive here to the observer as distinct and integrated entities thanks to the wise stylistic choice made by the author. The dark side, the sky, delimited by the illuminated elements, is defined as a neutral background, apparently bulky, yet completely necessary in the evocative and dreamlike nature of this shot.”

Francesca Pompei will be awarded together with the other URBAN Photo Awards winners on Saturday 30 October 2021 during Trieste Photo Days festival, Italy.

In the meantime, the New Buildings Finalists group exhibition can be visited until September 17, 2021 at the Metroquality Showroom, via Solferino 24, Milan, Italy.

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