About

The Luis Ferreira Alves International Photography Competition | A Contemporary Look at Architecture is a biennial programme created to honour the figure and work of Luis Ferreira Alves, a leading photographer whose career spanned the transition from analogue to digital photography and achieved wide recognition in Portugal and abroad.

The body of work left by Luis Ferreira Alves reveals a very distinctive way of looking at architecture: rigorous and documentary, yet also personal, sensitive and interpretative. His close relationship with architects such as Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura — both Pritzker Prize laureates — enabled him to develop a profound understanding of their work and spaces, as well as of the ways in which light, material, scale and time contribute to the architectural experience.

His photographs are therefore more than visual records of buildings and places. They emerge from a culture of perspectival representation, but go beyond it, turning photography into an instrument for reading and understanding architecture. It is this dimension, both documentary and authorial, that the LFA AWARD seeks to preserve, discuss and bring into the present.

The LFA AWARD takes shape through the international competition established under the protocol agreed between the heirs of Luis Ferreira Alves and the promoting bodies, Porto City Council (CMP) and Cityscopio - Associação Cultural (CCA). The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP) and Casa da Arquitectura (CA) are members of the Organising Committee.

The competition is also supported by a broad network of organisations and partners which, working in different fields, contribute to its consolidation, communication and national and international profile. Its sponsors and supporting organisations include the “la Caixa” Foundation / BPI and J. Soares Correia.

Building on this legacy, the LFA AWARD seeks, through photography, to deepen the understanding of architecture in Portugal and around the world, relating it to broader sociocultural, artistic, technical, political and historical systems.

It is particularly concerned with giving visibility to the distinctive relationship that can develop between photographer, architect, work and context, valuing a photographic practice capable of interpreting architecture beyond mere recording.

At a time when architecture is increasingly understood, experienced and debated through images, the competition also proposes a critical reflection on this mediation. It therefore seeks to encourage documentary, authorial and poetic approaches that broaden our understanding of the built environment and of the ways in which it is inhabited, appropriated and transformed.

The competition grows out of two central aspects of Luis Ferreira Alves’s career: his deep connection with architecture and his relationship with the city of Porto.

Porto City Council, which awarded him the Municipal Medal of Merit - Gold Grade, and Cityscopio - Associação Cultural, publisher of the book Luis Ferreira Alves - Fotografias em obras de Eduardo Souto de Moura (2016), are the promoting bodies of the Award.

The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto is a member of the Organising Committee because of the close relationship between Luis Ferreira Alves’s work and the architectural culture of the Porto School. Casa da Arquitectura, which holds a significant part of his archive, is also represented on the Committee.

A network of partners has formed around the LFA AWARD, strengthening its cultural, institutional, territorial, editorial and international dimensions. The Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-N), Metro do Porto, AMAG and panoramah! are strategic partners; the Portuguese Architects’ Association (OA), the Marques da Silva Foundation Institute (FIMS) and the Serralves Foundation form part of its network of institutional partners.

Building on the path established by Luis Ferreira Alves, a pioneer of architectural photography in Portugal and a decisive figure in the international projection of the work of several Portuguese architects, the LFA AWARD seeks to establish itself as a benchmark programme bringing together artistic, cultural, educational and editorial dimensions.

Its aim is to recognise established authors, identify new ways of seeing and give visibility to emerging practices, while encouraging contemporary reflection on the relationships between photography, architecture, city and territory.

This recognition takes shape through prizes and distinctions, the exhibition of winning and finalist projects, and their publication in a catalogue. The programme also includes talks, interviews and other public events, developed in collaboration with partner institutions and addressed to professional, academic and cultural communities.

LFA AWARD 2026–2028

25 September 2026 – 1 January 2027
Launch and development of the 2nd Edition Open Call

1 January 2027
Closure of the Open Call and preparation of assessment

February – March 2027
Selection and announcement of finalists

25 April 2027
Announcement of prize winners

July 2027
Exhibition and prize-giving ceremony

September 2027 – July 2028
Consolidation, dissemination and preparation of the next cycle

From among the finalist projects, the Jury will select the three best photographic series. The 1st Prize, worth €10,000, will be provided by an organisation of recognised prestige and relevance, whose association with the 2nd edition will be announced in due course. The 2nd Prize, worth €4,000, is sponsored by the “la Caixa” Foundation / BPI, while the 3rd Prize consists of a €1,500 voucher for the purchase of photographic equipment.

The 2nd edition also introduces the Portuguese Emerging Photography Award, a separate distinction created to recognise and give visibility to an emerging photographic career of particular artistic relevance. The award consists of a €1,500 voucher for the purchase of photographic equipment, provided by an organisation or brand to be announced.

The quality and diversity of the entries may also justify the award of up to two Special Mentions. These distinctions are intended to recognise particularly distinctive contributions, the diversity of perspectives and approaches represented in the competition and, where relevant, perspectives that have historically been under-represented in the field of architectural photography.

The official exhibition and publication for the relevant edition will bring together the authors ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd, the remaining finalists, the recipient of the Portuguese Emerging Photography Award and the recipients of any Special Mentions. Distinguished authors will also receive a certificate.

The exhibition and publication are fundamental dimensions of the LFA AWARD: they extend the competition beyond the moment of the awards and help to create an ongoing space for reflection, research and dissemination around architectural photography.

The Luis Ferreira Alves International Photography Competition | A Contemporary Look at Architecture was conceived to encourage the creation of authorial photographic series capable of interpreting a work or group of architectural works in a coherent, rigorous and distinctive manner.

Each entry must present a series of 9 to 11 photographs, accompanied by a project statement of no more than 2,000 characters.

The proposal may adopt a documentary, poetic, critical or experimental approach, provided that it maintains a clear relationship with the objectives of the competition and demonstrates a conscious position in relation to architecture and contemporary visual culture.

Rather than simply bringing together isolated images, the LFA AWARD invites authors to construct a visual narrative in which the photographs relate to one another through sequence, montage or cumulative effect, exploring relationships between space, light, material, time, human presence, use and transformation.

Full conditions of participation, assessment criteria and technical specifications are available in the Rules and Terms of Participation for the 2nd Edition — 2026–2027.