A New Babylon: The Singapore Gardens by the Bayby Stanley Collyer
All photos by Olha Romaniuk In 2006, Singapore staged a competition for a new park on the bay spanning 250 acres. At the edge of the city’s downtown, it was intended to become Singapore’s premier urban outdoor recreation space and a national icon. In essence, what the client was looking for was a botanical garden with an element of adventure added to the mix.
The competition attracted more than 70 entries from 170 firms.
The initial shortlisted firms were:
- Ah’bé Landscape Architects (USA)
- Alsop Design Ltd (UK)
- EDAW Australia Pty Ltd (Australia)
- Field Operations (USA) in collaboration with Foster & Partners (UK)
- Grant Associates (UK) in collaboration with Atelier One (UK), Land Design Studios (UK), and Wilkinson Eyre Architects (UK)
- Gustafson Porter Ltd (UK)
- Office For Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) (The Netherlands)
- Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop (Japan)
- Sasaki Associates, Inc. (USA)
- WIN Landscape Planning & Design Pte Ltd (Japan)
From these Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter were eventually awarded the master plan design for the Bay South and Bay East Gardens respectively. The first phase of the Bay East Gardens opened to the public in October 2011. Featured were a series of leaf-shaped gardens, each with its own specific landscaping design. Wind and water have been introduced into the site to provide a cooling effect.
The largest of the three Gardens, Bay South Garden, opened to the public in June 2012. Due to the inclusion of some significant structural objects, Grant Associates brought Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers, Atelier 10, onto their team. The result has been nothing less than sensational. The team enhanced the garden experience with “Supertrees,” 25 to 50 meters in height, as well as two conservatory buildings. The Supertrees provide shade in the day and come alive with a display of light and sound at night. In addition, over 160 plants comprising more than 200 species adorn many of the Supertrees at the top of the canopy. To top it all off, one can enjoy the surrounding view from a café atop the highest Supertree.
There will always be speculation as to the origin of some designs. Could it be that Marks Barfield’s design for the 2010 English pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo owed something to the Supertrees design?
Since the Gardens are being developed in phases, one wonders if there are more surprises like this around the corner. If so, this could well be this decades answer to the Bilbao effect, except that here the subject is a park setting If we use the sculpture park as a point of departure, this has taken the idea of a public garden to a whole new level.
Olha Romaniuk, who received her M Arch degree from the University of Cincinnati’s Department of Art, Architecture, and Planning, and a former intern with COMPETITIONS, is presently with Gallagher and Associates’ office in Singapore. |
The Cold War Veterans Memorial Competition 
Rendering: Oyler Wu Collaborative/Courtesy Pritzker Military Museum & Library
The Pritzker family is no stranger to good architecture; so it should come as no surprise that a project launched by the Pritzker Military Archives, including a competition for a Cold War Veterans Memorial in Wisconsin, would embrace this approach. Other major projects focusing on war veterans have also identified architecture as a significant element in the choice of a design—most notably the choice of SHoP architects for the design of Syracuse University’s National Veterans Resource Center (https://competitions.org/2017/03/syracuse-national-veterans-resource-center/). Read more… 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/ A Quest for that Elusive Connective Formula 
First Place: Pedestrian perspective from Parliament – Zeidler Architecture in association with David Chipperfield Architects
How do you find a common thread that can connect an eclectic collection of buildings, visually as well as physically, all located within a one-block site, located just across from Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa. To identify this common thread that could tie everything together, the client turned to a design competition for answers. With the aid of consultants, [phase eins] from Berlin and experts from Canada’s’ own Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture, the client turned to an invited international format to finally settle on six teams that could rethink the site. Read more… Vilnius Railway Station and Public Square Competition 
Vilnius Station competition Image: ©Zaha Hadid Architects
How do you find a common thread that can connect an eclectic collection of buildings, visually as well as physically, all located within a one-block site, located just across from Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa. To identify this common thread that could tie everything together, the client turned to a design competition for answers. With the aid of consultants, [phase eins] from Berlin and experts from Canada’s’ own Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture, the client turned to an invited international format to finally settle on six teams that could rethink the site. Read More… AL_A Prevails over a Star-studded Cast 
After over a year of planning, the choice of a site, and the establishment of criteria for the staging an international competition for a new concert hall, the process recently culminated in the choice of an architect for the design of the new Philharmonic in Belgrade, Serbia. Once a rather drab, nondescript city under the Tito regime, Belgrade has been reimagining itself to take its place as a major European city, including cultural attractions one might attach to such a claim. Read more… 
After narrowing the field to three finalists and reviewing their presentations via ZOOM, the competition jury gave the nod to KUTONOTUK of Charlottesville, VA as the winner. The winning team is led by principals, Leena Cho and Matthew Jull, faculty members at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. Second place went to FORMA from New York City, and third place was awarded to Lewis Williams with Hudson Architects from Norwich, England. Presentations of all three finalists can be seen here:
https://competitions.org/2022/03/atlantic-beach-nc-boardwalk-design-competition/ |
