A concrete-framed gymnasium in China, a seemingly endless atrium in South Africa and a flag-covered facade in Singapore all feature among the images vying to be named architecture photograph of the year.

There are 20 photographs recognised in the Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards 2017.

The photographer with the most entries on the list is Shanghai-based Terrence Zhang. His three shortlisted photographs are a view of a museum by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and two shots of the new gymnasium at Tianjin University, by Chinese architect Li Xinggang.

The list also includes a shot of Zaha Hadid's vertiginous Messner Mountain Museum in Italy, an image depicting a lighthouse at Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, and a view of a chapel with an undulating roof near Cape Town.

Several vibrantly coloured photographs feature too, ranging from a pastel-hued apartment block in Hong Kong to a looping museum in Denmark.

The shortlist was selected by a panel of judges that included Royal Academy of Arts curator Kate Goodwin, Klein Dytham Architecture founders Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, photographers Richard Bryant and Matt Emmett, and designer Andrew Chen.

"The winning images not only captured the aesthetics of different architecture and space, but also went beyond recording the images by telling stories about the meaningful built environments," said Chen.

All 20 images will be exhibited at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin next month, during which the winner will be announced. A selection of the shortlisted entries will also feature in an exhibition at Sto Werkstatt, London, in 2018.

Here's the full shortlist:

Sense of place: Choi Hung Estate, Hong Kong, photographed by Fabio Mantovani

Sense of place: Folk Art Museum, China Academy of Arts, Hangzhou, China, by Kengo Kuma, photographed by Terrence Zhang

Sense of place: Messner Mountain Museum Corones, South Tyrol, Italy, by Zaha Hadid Architects, photographed by Tom Roe

Sense of place: Black Rock Lighthouse Service at Burning Man, Nevada, USA, photographed by Tom Stahl

Sense of place: Museum of the Pop Culture (formerly known as the EMP Museum), Seattle, USA, by Frank Gehry, photographed by Conchi Martínez

Buildings in use: Gymnasium of the New Campus of Tianjin University, China, by Atelier Li Xinggang, photographed by Terrence Zhang

Buildings in use: ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Denmark, by Schmidt Hammer Lassen and Olafur Eliasson, photographed by David Borland

Buildings in use: Selegie House, Singapore, by the Housing and Development Board, photographed by Siyuan Ma

Buildings in use: Derby Arena Velodrome, UK, by Faulkner Brown Architects, photographed by Martine Hamilton

Buildings in use: Office building, Beijing, China, photographed by Tom Stahl

Exterior: Bosjes Chapel, Ceres, Cape Town, South Africa, by Steyn Studio, photographed by Adam Letch

Exterior: Samsung Electronics HQ building in San Jose, California, USA, by NBBJ, photographed by David Crawford

Exterior: SALA Ayutthaya Hotel, Thailand, by Onion, photographed by Wison Tungthunya

Exterior: Sumida Hokusai Museum, Tokyo, Japan, by Kazuyo Sejima, photographed by Laurian Ghinitoiu

Exterior: North wall of the Revel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, photographed by Brian Rose

Interior: Ponte City Apartments, Johannesburg, South Africa, photographed by Ryan Koopmans

Interior: Dongzhuang Building Museum of the Western Regions, China, by Xinjiang Wind Architectural Design & Research Institute, photographed by Yao Li

Interior: Gymnasium of the New Campus of Tianjin University, China, by Atelier Li Xinggang, photographed by Terrence Zhang

Interior: Tianrenhe Museum, Hangzhou, China, by HHDFUN, photographed by Zhenfei Wang

Interior: Baan Mom private residence, Bangkok, Thailand, by Integrated Field