Montreal Space for Life Architecture CompetitionSponsor: Montreal Space for Life Location: Montreal, Canada Languages: French, English Type: Open, international, RFQ Budget: $45 million Eligiblity: Open to multidisciplinary teams of architects, engineers, designers, LEED and Living Building Challenge certification experts, landscape architects and designers Timeline: February 2014 – Official launch of competition July 2014 – Winners chosen Design Challenge: Space for Life, Montréal’s largest museum and tourist complex, is organizing an international architecture competition for official launch in February 2014. Following the huge success of the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, the Space for Life is reasserting its desire to meld art, science and emotion by creating a unique immersive visitor experience through an innovative pairing of bold architecture and design in three major projects: the Insectarium’s Metamorphosis project, the renewal of the Biodôme and the Botanical Garden’s Glass Pavilion, legacies of Montréal’s 375th birthday. Inspired by the Space for Life’s mission—to reconnect humans and nature—the competition will seek an overall creative approach where boldness and innovation will be the design hallmarks of an immersive and sensory spatial experience. This offers an exciting opportunity to participate in the evolution of the Space for Life’s and to get involved in making our city the flagship of a vast global movement for biodiversity. One site: three projects The three projects in the competition are all located on the Space for Life site. Reflecting a multidisciplinary vision wherein the architectural gesture emerges from a global creative approach, a bold architectural design will create living spaces that are permeable, ecological and evolving, while meeting the highest standards for green building. LEED Platinum certification will be targeted and the Living Building Challenge certification will serve as a source of inspiration for the project. These projects are part of the Space for Life’s $189.3 M investment plan. The Government of Québec has allocated a total budget of $45 million for its realization. Each of the projects in this contest stands out in its nature, objectives and challenges. • The Insectarium’s Metamorphosis project will expand and renovate the existing building and some outdoor areas. Inspired by biophilia, its architecture should provide sensory experiences and unexpected encounters that rekindle the relationship between humans and insects. • The renewed Biodôme project is intended to redevelop some exhibition spaces, including the ecosystems within the Biodôme. It aims to revive the debate on our relationship with nature through a more immersive, introspective and emotional visitor experience that will promote more environmentally respectful behaviour. •The Botanical Garden’s Glass Pavilion will offer bold, innovative and organic architecture informed by biophilic design principles. Versatile, technologically efficient and flexible, it will host horticultural events as well as environmentally-responsible corporate functions. For more information, go to: mtlunescodesign.com |
The Makasiiniranta South Harbor Competition
 Helsinki South Harbour and Tori Quarter Suomen Ilmakuva Helsinki. Image credit/ Tietoa Finland, Janne Hirvonen
As a prelude to a competition for the design of a new Architecture and Design Museum to be located in Helsinki’s South Harbor, the City of Finland staged an open competition to establish a roadmap for the future redevelopment of the Makasiiniranta harbor area, the last old harbor area to be transformed for public use in Helsinki. The competition for the museum is scheduled to take place later this year; but the entire surrounding area has come up with a plan to review improvements for the entire harbor environment.
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/ Vltava Philharmonic Hall Design Competition 
View to Concert Hall from bridge ©BIG
Classical music is still part of a vibrant musical scene in Prague, with at least four principal venues hosting concerts, ballet and opera. As a modern European city, the only missing venue from these choices is a state of the art concert hall. Other European neighbors have also recently staged competitions for such projects: Munich, won by Cukrowicz Nachbaur Architekten of Bregenz, Austria; Belgrade, won by AL_A of London; and Vilnius, Lithuania, won by Arquivio Architects of Spain. It should be noted, however, that one of the most important competitions for a concert hall, not only in Europe, but the world, was the 1961 Berlin Philharmonic hall competition, won by Hans Scharoun (below). It was the interior of that building, in particular, that served as a model for many others that followed, one of the first being Los Angeles’ Disney Hall by Frank Gehry. Read more… Budapest’s Nyugati Rail Station Competition 
Image courtesy Budapest Development Agency ©Grimshaw
Completed in 1877, Budapest’s Nyugati Railway Station has witnessed many of the twists and turns of Hungarian history: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, revolutions of post-World War I and 1956, and various shades of expansion and shrinkage in their territory. Its important location in Europe’s history as a contested land in southeastern Europe has not only served as a path for armies of conquest, but as a matter of great interest for major powers. Amid all the changes it has experienced, Hungary, and Budapest in particular, has retained a fascination for outsiders, making it one of Europe’s high profile tourist attractions. Read more… 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
In European cities, recent history has seen their central railway stations become the subject of upgrades, or totally new projects, many of them springing up in Eastern Europe. In most cases, the focus on this phenomena occurred several decades after earth-shaking political events. In Germany it was the construction of a new main central station (Hauptbahnhof) shortly after the reunification of Germany and Berlin. in Estonia, and now Lithuania, it has occurred after the independence of those countries in conjunction with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. And in Hungary, it was the subject of a recent competition encompassing a large area surrounding the station. Read More… |
