New Central Urban Waterfront Space and Main Library (MEDIASPACE)New Central Urban Waterfront Space and Main Library (MEDIASPACE) Open, international, RfP Aarhus, Denmark The contest including negotiated procedure is expected to run from March 2008 to November 2008 SPONSORS: The Municipality of Aarhus TYPE: Open, international, RfP LOCATION: Aarhus, Denmark LANGUAGE: English, Danish TIMETABLE: The contest including negotiated procedure is expected to run from March 2008 to November 2008, the planning stage running from January 2009 to June 2012, and the construction stage from March 2011 and until the opening of MEDIASPACE in December 2014. ELIGIBILITY: Architects, engineers, planners worldwide JURY: Not Announced AWARDS: 5 to 6 participants will be shortlisted. The construction costs of sections 1 + 2 are estimated at approx. EUR 180 million excl. VAT, but including various design costs, while the costs of section 3 are estimated at approx. EUR 20 million excl. VAT, but including various design costs. FEE: None THE COMPETITION: The Municipality of Aarhus launches an international architectural design contest for an integrated design solution for a new urban waterfront space and MEDIASPACE – the new main library of Aarhus, Citizens’ Services and more – a new icon communicating Aarhus as a city of knowledge. It is essential for the Municipality of Aarhus that the designer in all phases of the design process focuses on involvement processes, e.g. involvement of Aarhus City Council, client, citizens, users, employees, building authorities, business community and future tenants. The total overall project comprises three separate design sections: 1. Building design of an 18,000 sqm. MEDIASPACE – Aarhus’ new main library, citizens’ services etc. including 10,000 sqm. of optional area on a future harbour bastion. New urban spaces should be designed on the bastion around MEDIASPACE, while car parking, local trains, arrivals centre etc. should be established in the bastion or in connection hereto. 2. Uncovering of the last part of Aarhus River and modification of the Europaplads (existing town square) as an integrated solution with design of the bastion and MEDIASPACE. 3. Design of an approx. 500 m new urban waterfront that opens the city towards the sea and creates a new urban area for public activity and recreation. The design contest comprises all three project sections (sections 1 + 2, and section 3), however the jury reserves the right to award separate winners of sections 1 + 2 and section 3. The winner(s) will subsequently be invited to participate in a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice on the conditions stated in Article 31, para 3 of the Directive. If separate winners are awarded for sections 1+2 and section 3, a separate negotiated procedure will be carried out for sections 1+2 as well as for section 3. The entire project is subject to the Aarhus City Council approving the commencement of the contest, the contest result, and the costs of the project. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.multimediehuset.dk |
Young Architects in Competitions When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality  by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020 271 illustrations in color and black & white Available in PDF and eBook formats ISBN 9781988962047 What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset? This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions. Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link: https://crc.umontreal.ca/en/publications-libre-acces/  Aerial view of site – Courtesy National Finnish Museum When major cultural institutions in Finland plan a new building project, one can almost always assume that an open competition will be the vehicle by which the client settles on the building’s design. The only question is, will this be organized in a format open to local, Scandinavian, or international architects. In the case of the National Museum of Finland annex competition, it was open to architects throughout the world — resulting in 185 entries. Read more…
The Opening of Taichung’s Central Park by Catherine Mosbach/Philippe Rahm
 View from the south with downtown Taichung in the distance image: ©Mosbach/Rahm
The abandonment and closing of airports, including decommissioning those that were used for military purposes, has presented design communities with several opportunities to convert them entirely to civilian purposes. Notable among those which have been the result of competitions are Orange County Great Park, Irvine, California (Ken Smith Landscape Architects), The Estonian National Museum (Dan Dorell, Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi Tane), and Toronto’s less successful Downsview Park competition, whereby the winning design by OMA, with trees as the primary feature, has been basically ignored. Instead, the area has become the site of numerous commercial and residential projects.
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SMAR’s Winning Entry Gets the Green Light  Image: ©SMAR Architecture The winning competition entry in the 2016 Science Island competition in Kaunas, Lithuania by SMAR Architects may only take five years to realize—from the date of the competition to completion. This is encouraging news, as the duration of such projects resulting from a competition can often take much longer—sometimes up to 8-10 years. Read more…  Night view of the memorial tapestry from Independence Avenue, with Gehry’s sketch of the Normandy cliffs. Explaining the contributions of a World War II hero and later President of the United States on a very modest site on Independence Avenue just off the Washington Mall is tantamount to asking an author to describe the life of this person in no more than one paragraph. But on September 17th, after a long and bumpy journey, lasting almost 20 years and navigating a warren of the DC approval processes and public scrutiny, the Eisenhower Memorial finally was dedicated and opened to the public. Designed by Frank Gehry, it has received mixed reviews, the majority being more positive. But most have pointed out that the memorial is more impressive at night than in full daylight. This is due primarily to the illumination of an almost block-long metallic tapestry—featuring a sketch by Gehry, which depicts his interpretation of the cliffs of the Normandy coastline where the Americans landed on D-Day. Read more…  Professional winner: Brooklyn Bridge Forest (image © Pilot Projects Design Collective) While looking for new adventures on a visit to New York City, friends suggested that I take time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge—certainly a New York icon. For those intending to undertake this trek across the bridge for the first time, the bridge consists of layers, with a large platform for pedestrians on top of a lower level for cars and the metro system. Traversing this connection for the first time between Manhattan and Brooklyn is not just about getting from one place to another, but experiencing a great scenic view of both boroughs and occasionally interacting with other bridge crossers. As for the latter, they provide a flavor of the city’s demographics, as opposed to similar experiences one might have of the city’s inhabitants when riding the city’s subway system. Read more… |