Tokyo Toilets doc snags architecture honor at Sony World Photography Awards

Canadian photographer Ulana Switucha has taken home the Architecture & Design category’s top honors at the 2025 edition of the influential Sony World Photography Awards. 

Her photo depicts the ongoing Tokyo Toilet Project, isolating the designs of the structures in black-and-white profiles to showcase their uniqueness and presence in Shibuya-ku, a densely packed ward that is otherwise conducive to a similar form of street photography.

Their elevation beyond a mere public convenience and into a form of public art authentically reflects the intents and purposes of the architects behind them—names such as Sou Fujimoto, Kengo Kuma, and, more recently, Toyo Ito and Marc Newsom.

The winning suite of photos follows filmmaker Wim Wenders’ similar treatment of them as the backdrop and foil in his 2023 feature Perfect Days. Switucha says, "These images are part of a larger body of work documenting the architectural aesthetics of these structures in their urban environment." The first toilets opened in Tokyo in August 2020.

Joining Switucha as the winner were the 2nd and 3rd place finalists Andre Tezza, of Brazil (whose photos depict the vernacular architecture of Belize); and Owen Davies, of the United Kingdom (whose series LIGHT/MASS investigates "alien urban landscapes found in cities across the United States.")