Covered Reservoir, Finsbury Park, London by Matt Emmett, winner of the 2016 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Award

This brick reservoir just won a top architecture prize

The derelict reservoir may not be by a big name, yet it still won the World Archiecture Festival's photography prize

What does it take to shoot a world-beating architectural photograph? A good camera, a questing spirit and a fair amount of courage. British photographer Matt Emmett has won the 2016 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Award, with his photograph of the East London Water Works Company covered reservoir in Finsbury Park.

This derelict urban reservoir isn’t formally open to the public, though this didn’t prevent Emmett, whose site Forgotten Heritage focuses on ruins, both ancient and modern.

 

Allianz headquarters by Adrien Barakat
Allianz headquarters by Adrien Barakat

The judges, including Emily Booth, editor of The Architectural Review, and Ka-Uwe Bergmann, partner at BIG, singled out Emmett’s photograph at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin this month for it composition, use of scale and his sensitivity to atmosphere and sense of place.

 

Sesc Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi
Sesc Pompeia by Lina Bo Bardi

It’s a surprising choice, as the winning image was the only photograph on the shortlist to focus on a pre-20th century, brick structure, and the only to structure created by a public body, East London Water Works Company, rather than a high-profile architectural practice.

The other images under consideration included Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre’s shot of Lina Bo Bardi brutalist Brazilian leisure centre, Sesc Pompeia in São Paulo; Adrien Barakat angular shot of Allianz headquarters in Zurich, created by Wiel Arets; and Julien Lanoo’s photograph of the Haduwa Arts + Culture Institute in Ghana, created by aFA.

 

Haduwa Arts + Culture Institute by Julien Lanoo
Haduwa Arts + Culture Institute by Julien Lanoo

They’re all striking, though it’s nice to see this distinctive shot of a little-know architectural gem. For greater insight into architectural photography get Shooting Space; for more beautiful brick get Brick.