Poetry of Matter, by Italian photographer Gianluca Santoni, won 1st Place in Industrial Architecture at the 2026 International Photography Awards, and earned Santoni the title of Architecture Photographer of the Year. The series was made at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, where Santoni sees architecture becoming “a poetry of concrete and steel, where form and function merge in balance.”
His images isolate the site’s pure geometries — headframes, conveyor bridges and brick façades — and let light turn them into changing scenographies. The structures evoke both memory and vision. Heir to the spirit of the Bauhaus, the complex speaks of labour, transformation and rebirth.
Zollverein no longer produces coal, but Santoni treats it as a bridge between past and future: a “machine of visions” that now inspires creative work. His photographs suggest that industrial heritage is not only something to preserve, but something to keep looking at with new eyes.
More about the photographer: Gianluca Santoni, Creative Profile
Official award record: International Photography Awards winners
A building stops working; it does not stop speaking.
International Photography Awards, 2026 — Architecture Photographer of the Year; 1st Place, Architecture: Industrial
