Calling all photographers and videographers: Architizer’s Vision Awards has categories that celebrate the art of capturing architecture through the lens of still and moving images. The Extended Entry deadline is July 24th. Submit today >
Videography may be the most powerful storytelling tool available to architects today. Yet it presents a unique challenge: how do you create a compelling narrative around a subject that does not move? Unlike cinema, architectural films often begin with a static object: a building, a room, a landscape.
Using the work of Sohaib Ilyas, recipient of the 2025 Vision Awards’ Videographer of the Year award, as a case study, we take a closer look at five of his films to uncover the storytelling techniques behind them. By unpacking these projects, we seek to answer a simple question: if architecture is the subject, what should the story be?
If you’re a videographer or a firm with excellent video imagery of an incredible project, consider showcasing your work through Architizer’s Vision Awards. There are three dedicated video categories: Building Story, for cinematic documentation of in-progress or completed architecture; Profile or Interview, for films that put the people behind the built environment at the center; and Experimental, for work that pushes beyond conventional representation entirely.
1. Tell the Story Through Time
Case Study: Parikrama
The film begins with a series of close-ups of various spaces, following a steady rhythm established through editing and sound design. It unfolds through a simple linear narrative, moving from dawn to light. Everyday cues, such as a rooster crowing, windows opening or daylight shifting, signal the passage of time, gradually revealing the building as it transitions through different moments of the day. The camera is primarily static, using, however, surrounding elements such as shadows, foliage, birds and changing light conditions to introduce movement into the frame. This is also complemented by sound, crafted through a blend of environmental noise and carefully timed musical cues.
Storytelling Lessons
- Give viewers a narrative framework they instinctively understand. In this case, the daily life cycle of a building is already a ready-made narrative structure.
- Small environmental changes can be more powerful than dramatic camera movements.
- Use sound to establish pacing before presenting information.
2. Tell the Story Through Everyday Life
Case Study: House of Memories
The film abandons a strict timeline and instead follows the activities of a multigenerational family. Each family member is filmed using everyday objects to instigate action within a specific space: an older man fixes a turntable, a woman lights a candle and prays, a young boy practices the piano. Each action introduces a new space and a new perspective of the house, showing an architecture that emerges from occupation rather than observation. In parallel, music and sound also emerge naturally from these activities, establishing a constant and interconnected movement that creates energy throughout the film
Storytelling Lessons
- Show what people do rather than simply showing where they are. The occupants often are the ideal co-authors of the architectural narrative.
- Use everyday rituals to reveal how a building actually functions. A way in is to use objects that act as effective storytelling devices and scene transitions.
- Avoid treating architecture as a static backdrop and instead focus on lived experience rather than spatial description.
3. Tell the Story Through Memory
Case Study: Dr. Vishnuvardhan Memorial
The film adopts a documentary format, combining interviews with architectural footage. With the narrative revolving around the life and legacy of the celebrated Kannada cinema icon, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, the interviews become vehicles through which context and emotional weight are communicated, rather than providing purely technical information. Architectural imagery is interwoven with personal stories and reflections, framing the building as an extension of the individual’s memory and influence, which – in turn – are further reinforced through the memorial’s educational and cultural functions.
Storytelling Lessons
- Sometimes the most compelling story is not the building itself but the person behind it. Give audiences a human story to connect with.
- Architecture can become a vessel for memory, identity and cultural continuity. Use it to support a larger narrative rather than forcing it to carry the narrative alone.
- Interviews are most effective when they reveal purpose rather than specifications.
4. Tell the Story Through Place
Case Study: Hampi Art Lab
The film uses a documentary approach but places greater emphasis on landscape than on individual personalities, where the site’s history, ecology and cultural significance become central to the narrative. Specifically, the film consistently frames the building as part of a larger environmental system, placing equal visual attention to both architecture and nature. Slow and fluid camera movements echo the architectural concept, where that space flows peacefully – just like the surrounding landscape.
Storytelling Lessons
- Treat the site as a character in the story. Context often provides a stronger narrative framework than form alone.
- Help viewers understand where a building belongs before explaining what it is.
- Camera movement can reinforce architectural concepts and oftentimes reveal concealed relationships – in this case architecture and landscape.
5. Tell the Story Through Fiction
Case Study: Rehethaan
The film adopts a playful fictional premise in which architects visit their client for a house tour using humor to parody familiar house-tour formats. The pacing is fast, with dialogue and interaction, such as conversation, jokes and a “dream sequence”, driving the narrative. In addition, music plays a major role in shaping mood and tempo. Out of all five case studies, this film feels the closest to cinema, crafting a setting where the audience experiences the architecture through a story rather than through direct explanation.
Storytelling Lessons
- Architectural films do not have to be documentaries. Fiction can be an effective tool for communicating design ideas.
- Narrative tension, character interaction and surprise help sustain attention. Use pacing strategically to control how viewers experience a project.
- The strongest architectural stories often make viewers forget they are watching a presentation.
There is no single “correct” way to make an architectural video. Rather, architects can employ different narrative lenses through which architecture can be understood. As the 2026 Vision Awards approach, perhaps the question is not how to film a project, but what story that project is waiting to tell.
Calling all photographers and videographers: Architizer’s Vision Awards has categories that celebrate the art of capturing architecture through the lens of still and moving images. The Extended Entry deadline is July 24th. Submit today >
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