Rendering the Future: Vision Awards Welcomes the Masters of Architectural Visualization

The 2025 Vision Awards are now open and the Final Entry Deadline on July 11th is fast approaching. As the boundaries of architectural visualization continue to expand, so too does the Vision Awards jury. This year, Architizer welcomes a powerhouse panel of visual storytellers — founders, directors, artists, and educators — who are redefining how architecture is seen before it’s built. From cinematic renderings to conceptual portraits, their work demonstrates that great visualization is not just about realism, but about resonance: the ability to capture a feeling, provoke a reaction, and communicate a story that transcends the page or screen.

Start Vision Award

Spanning global studios, major practices, and award-winning independent platforms, this jury brings a rare mix of creative rigor, technical mastery and cultural insight to the table. Their influence is shaping the visual language of the built environment — and now, they’ll help select the next generation of visionary image-makers at the 2025 Architizer Vision Awards.

Alex Hogrefe

Creator of Visualizing Architecture and Co-Founder of Design Distill

Alex is the creator of visualizingarchitecture.com, a website that explores architectural graphics and representational techniques. He is also the co-founder of Design Distill, an Architectural 3D rendering studio located in Boston that specializes in highly diversified projects ranging from large city and university master planning images down to bespoke interior spaces. These days when he is not in his Boston office, Alex can be found up on the Maine coast developing his carpentry skills.

Keely Colcleugh

Founder and CEO at Kilograph 

Keely is the founder of Kilograph and Kilograph SL. She is a designer with more than 20 years experience in the fields of architectural design, visual effects, brand design and exhibition design. Keely is member of the executive committee at the A+D museum, past president of the ASAI and serves on the juries of Architizer and the Architecture Master Prize awards annually

Mengyi Fan

Director of Visualization at SHoP Architects

Mengyi is currently the Director of Visualization at SHoP Architects. She has worked in multiple roles of expertise in the architectural field with a focus on the New York metropolitan area, ranging from lighting design for major infrastructural projects to creating exhibitions that utilize social media as a design tool.

For the past 13 years at SHoP Architects, Mengyi has played a role in almost every project at the firm, using visualization and emerging technology as design tools to realize SHoP’s architectural vision. Notable projects include Barclays Center, 111 W57th Street and Brooklyn Tower in New York, Uber’s new headquarters in San Francisco, and Detroit Hudson’s downtown revival.

She is also a co-organizer of 3DNY, working together with architecture, visualization and VFX studios to promote diversity and facilitate conversations among different fields.

Filip Kurasz

Founding Partner | Art Director at ELEMENT and Co-Founder of World Visualization Festival (WVF)

Filip Kurasz is a dynamic creative, juggling roles as an artist, art director, and architect. Inspired by childhood passions and fueled by an entrepreneurial spirit, has co-guided ELEMENT Studio to the forefront of Archviz over the past decade and now became a proud co-founder of the World Visualization Festival – WVF. His knack for pushing boundaries earned him titles like Architectural Visualizer of the Year 2023 and nods from the Architizer A+Awards. When he’s not crafting masterpieces, Filip enjoys tackling obstacle races and finding joy in family adventures. Always striving for the next creative challenge, he brings a touch of lightheartedness to everything he does.

Jakub Figel

Founding Partner at ELEMENT and Co-Founder of World Visualization Festival (WVF)

Jakub Figel is a powerhouse connecting the worlds of art and architecture. His entrepreneurial drive leads him down unconventional paths, co-founding the World Visualization Festival (WVF) and spearheading ELEMENT Visualization Studio to become a recognizable figure in Archviz for over a decade. Jakub’s achievements include prestigious titles like Architectural Visualization Studio and Visualization of the Year 2023 and a Special Mention at the Architizer A+ Awards.

Carlotta Cominetti

Co-Founder of VirginLemon

Carlotta is the Co-founder and CEO of Virginlemon, a visual communication studio specialized in architecture, winner of the 1st Architizer One Rendering Challenge. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Politecnico di Milano in Italy. In 2013, she moved to Paris to begin her career and worked for several design firms as concept developer and 3D artist. Since then she collaborates daily with Architects, developers and artists worldwide to create expressive images and animations, and joined global CGI events as a speaker on the topic of narrative in architectural visualization.

Simone Lapenta

Design Director and Director of Visualization for RIOS 

Simone Lapenta is a Design Director and the Director of Visualization at RIOS, a global design collective based in Los Angeles. At the intersection of design and digital storytelling, Simone brings visions of unbuilt places to life, crafting striking narratives that seamlessly blend a refined digital aesthetic with evocative realism. Originally from Rome and with over 15 years of experience, Simone weaves cultural resonance and technical clarity into every image. His work reveals the essence of a space before it is built, inviting viewers to experience how it will look and feel and strengthening the aesthetic language and expressive power of architectural interventions.

Duy Phan

Senior Visualizer at ERA-co

Duy is an artist based in Melbourne, Australia. Born and raised from the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, Duy brings a unique perspective to his work, which focuses on capturing the essence of unbuilt architecture through portraiture.

Duy’s dedication to his craft is evident in his experimentation with different techniques and styles, as he strives to keep up with the industry’s top performers. Duy’s hard work has garnered him numerous prestigious industry awards and accolades. He is also passionate about sharing his wealth of knowledge and expertise, serving on critique panels at the University of Melbourne and delivering insightful guest lectures at RMIT University.

During the week, Duy works as an illustrator at ERA-co, where he uses his expertise to bring new and exciting ideas to life. When he’s not hard at work, Duy enjoys exploring the beautiful parks and gardens of Victoria, as well as maintaining a healthy work-life balance to fuel his creativity.

Linna Choi

Founder/Partner at OUALALOU+CHOI 

Linna Choi is a co-founding Principal of OUALALOU + CHOI, an architecture and urban design practice with studios in Paris and Casablanca. Linna holds a Master in Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Yale University. She has served as a studio professor at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, Rhode Island School of Design, Rice University, and the Università Iuav di Venezia School of Architecture.

Linna is the recipient of numerous design awards, including the Rice Design Alliance Spotlight Prize, In/Arch Award, WA Award, AR Emerging Architecture Award, and was named as one of the “100 Architects of the Year” by the Korean Institute of Architects. With her partner Tarik Oualalou, Linna has published a monograph of the office’s work entitled “Territories of Disobedience” which examines the office’s body of work in the past twenty years.

Architizer’s Vision Awards are back! The global awards program honors the world’s best architectural concepts, ideas and imagery. Start your entry ahead of the Final Entry Deadline on July 11th. 

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