Architecture is a bit of an underrated photo competition category but it is one that can simultaneously capture design, engineering and human experience. Here, we pick our 2026 Sony World Photography Awards’ Professional finalist and shortlist standouts that manage to say so much with a single image.
By framing structures in new ways, under different light, the images reveal how the built environment can be a powerful subject of artistic expression – and make viewers also see the world differently. A great example of that is the leading image we’ve used, by Iranian photographer Farshid Rahimi Kalahroudi. His Shortlist photo, “Great Jameh Mosque,” manages to capture engineering ingenuity, history and culture – like all our standout images.
Second-Hand House
Stephan Zirwes/Sony World Photography Awards 2026
Stephan Zirwes (Germany) made the awards’ Shortlist category for this stark image of how old materials become a sustainable way to build small holiday homes for people, where “wood, bricks and window frames from demolished buildings are given a new lease of life, reducing construction waste and the need for new resources. Such reuse not only creates a unique, charming building, but also contributes to environmental protection.”
“Untitled” from the series Ad Astra
Cristopher Rogel Blanquet Chavez/Sony World Photography Awards 2026
Shortlist photographer Cristopher Rogel Blanquet Chavez (Mexico) took this rather beautiful image of the border wall between the US and Mexico in Douglas, Arizona. By day, the wall looms large, but at night, it takes on a completely different form.
“It becomes a silhouette, a shadow, a dark line of architectural hostility that cuts through the landscape and the silence,” said Chavez. “This series is not about politics, but about presence. It is about an architecture designed to exclude.”
Chinese Watchtowers
Chen Liang/Sony World Photography Awards 2026
Chen Liang (China) has been named a finalist for this captivating image of a Yuqing watchtower built in Jiangmen, in China’s Guangdong Province, in 1922.
“They were built during the time of the Republic of China (1912-1949), as public refuges and defensive fortresses,” the description explained. “Most were constructed by Chinese people living overseas, who had returned to their home towns, or raised funds to build them in the countryside, making them a unique architectural form that combines both Chinese and Western influences. In 2007, the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages in Guangdong were officially designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
Mercado Safira
André Tezza/Sony World Photography Awards 2026
At first unassuming, this image snapped by André Tezza (Brazil) captures the essence of small-town community and livelihood that often centers around were we get food from. This neighborhood grocery store in Campo Largo is more than just a shop to the people that rely on it – and this image portrays it almost like the light of the community. Which it most likely is. Living in an age of convenience, and convenience stores, it’s easy to forget that these unassuming local spots are more than just places to buy food – they’re hubs of small community living, where people exchange news, local gossip and can have a sense of belonging.
“Often family-run and linked to domestic spaces, the stores merge work, memory and dwelling into a single building,” the photo description noted. “While the city center undergoes gentrification, the periphery remains culturally dense and visually vibrant.”
You can check our gallery for more of our picks from the category.
Source: Sony World Photography Awards
