Architecture nominee

The Brønshøj Water Tower, designed by Ib Lunding who worked as project architect under City Architect Poul Holsøe, was constructed in 1928 in the functionalist style and is a local landmark of Copenaghen, UNESCO World Capital of Architecture 2023-2025.
With its inside concrete construction composed of pillars placed in circles in several layers, the building is protected along with 10 other water towers in Denmark. Although the tower is now out of service, it represents a simple principle that is still being used: the elevation of a confined body of water high above the water pipes which distribute the water throughout the surrounding community, ensures that hydrostatic pressure, driven by gravity, makes the water run through the system. This principle is clearly legible in the architecture of the water tower: the water tank suspended by a series of robust columns. The cylindrical space, ideal for storing a liquid, is clearly articulated in the functionalist architecture. Today, the unique space is used for concerts and cultural activities, echoing the spaces in the etchings Imaginary Prisons of the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

A Philosophy graduate, Francesca Pompei is specialised in Art and Architecture Photography and her professional collaborations include projects for AD-Italia, the Vatican City State, Emre Arolat Architecture, Jaca Book, Living Corriere della Sera, Artribune, Venaria Reale, the Cultural Heritage Ministry, the Italian Embassy in Qatar, TheTimes, The Guardian and The Washington Post. Artist selected to celebrate Italy’s Republic Day 2020 and 2021, she is winner of prestigious competitions such as Architecture MasterPrize 2022 and The Art of Building. She is included among the Exceptional Women In Architecture Photography and in the Annuario d'Arte Italiana 2022 promoted by Quadriennale di Roma and published by Treccani .
Her projects have been published on an international level and exhibited as part of solo and group exhibitions. She is a member of Sign Press and PhotoVogue, in addition to her role as a Professor of Photography in the Image and Storytelling Studio course of the Design, Multimedia and Visual Communication Department of the Faculty of Architecture in Sapienza University, in Rome. Since 2023 she has been appointed Photography Subject Expert at the faculty of Architecture of Sapienza University in Rome. Since 2025 she has been member of the Freelancers Network of The Washington Post.