The winning photograph in the CIOB’s third annual Art of Building photography competition is Roof in Colours, an image of contemporary Bangkok taken by Portuguese photographer Ines Costa.
Costa’s image edged ahead in the online public vote, which attracted more than 8,000 voters this year, far exceeding last year’s total of around 3,000. She plans to use the £2,000 cash prize to buy new camera equipment.
Competition judge Maxwell Hutchinson said the image stood out because of the humour in its mix of historic and modern references. “The orange tiles are so continental and reminiscent of older European buildings. There’s something very humorous about this colourful composition.”
Costa was one of 12 finalists who hailed from all over the world, including India, the UK, the USA, Vietnam and Uruguay. The aim of the contest is to encourage people to explore the ‘art’ of building and to celebrate creativity in the construction industry.
The CIOB competition also had a considerable social media profile, being featured on the websites of the BBC, Big Issue, Huffington Post, Dezeen and others. According to Saul Townsend from the CIOB, “tweets” about the competition were seen by a million Twitter users on a single day.
“What’s special about the Art of Building is that it pulls people from outside the industry towards us. It gets young people taking pictures of buildings and engaging with the industry we are passionate about,” he said.
Roof in Colours and other entries to the 2012 Art of Building competition will feature in a charity auction later this year. All money raised will contribute to project to build hurricane and earthquake resilient schools in Haiti, organised by industry charity development Article 25.
Ines Costa’s winning image, Roof in Colours, was taken in Thailand
