Winter Stations Design CompetitionEligibility: This is an open international competition, welcoming artists, designers, architects and landscape architects. Submission Deadline: 5 December, 2015
Design Challenge: Although the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto is a summer long festival of colour and pageantry, this is not true of the winter months. This year we begin what we hope will become an expanded annual celebration of Toronto’s winter landscape, focusing on the intersection between land and water. We are beginning with the Kew, Scarborough and Balmy Beaches located in the heart of the Beach community, broadly located south of Queen Street East, between Woodbine and Victoria Park Avenues. Located on the beach between the Leuty Lifeguard Station and the Balmy Beach Club are five evenly spaced metal life guard stands. These utilitarian structures are to be used as the armature or foundation for pieces of public art. The pieces are temporary installations and need to be able to withstand the rigours of Toronto winter weather. They are to be installed February 16, 2015 until March 20, 2015. This is an open international competition, welcoming artists, designers, architects and landscape architects. We have chosen a theme of Warmth this year. Competitors are asked to create installations anchored to the lifeguard stands which can add among other things, colour, movement and humour to the landscape. It is hoped these installations will engage the audience in a dialogue with designers and their intent. There is no limit to the size of the installation, but please note that included in the jurors instructions will be durability and constructability. Winning teams will spend time in Toronto during the last phase of construction and for the activities surrounding the opening. These events include an opening party at the Balmy Beach Club and a speaking engagement at Toronto’s Design Exchange, where the team’s entry and portfolio will be exhibited. This will provide opportunities for citizens of Toronto to engage directly with the designers, as well as to encourage the students of various design schools in the city to meet with them. Members of the design team will be expected to meet with media to explain their designs and ideas. For more information, go to: http://winterstations.com/ |
Six Firms Competed to Rethink the Future of a Major Museum 
Aerial view of winning design ©Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants)
The history of the Dallas Museum of Art’s expansion has been punctuated by several moves, culminating in a new building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1984. The importance of this move to a new, somewhat desolate location in the city cannot be underestimated: it has led to the revitalization of what is now called the “Arts District,” with the relocation of various arts institutions to new facilities: the opera house (Foster and Partners), Dee and Charles Wyly Performing Arts Theater (REX/OMA), Nasher Sculpture Center (Renzo Piano), and I.M. Pei’s Meyerson Symphony Center being among the most significant. 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/ 
View from Congress Square of Lever Architecture entry showing new wing on left
A New Wing to Accommodate a Museum’s Burgeoning Holdings, New Programs, and Rise in Attendance The passage of time has seen most art museums adding on new wings, or even deciding on a brand new building. The Portland Museum of Art (PMA) has followed this pattern, having commissioned the new Charles Shipman Payson Building by Harry Cobb of I.M. Pei and Partners in 1981. This building served the community well for decades; but numerous gifts to the museum have necessitated the expansion of exhibition spaces well beyond the limited capacity to be found in the existing building. Adding to this is an evolving mission of the PMA in its interaction with the community. Read more… 
Courtesy Malcolm Reading Consultants, ©Kengo Kuma & Associates
A UNESCO World Heritage Site Again on the World Stage How does one approach a challenge when creating a design worthy of a park with a history dating back to antiquity? This was what four design teams faced when shortlisted for the design of a Visitor Center for the Butrint National Park in Albania. The park’s history is illuminating in this regard.
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Chungji National Heritage Museum Competition
Image ©Ona Architects + Jongjin Lee architects + Laguillo Arquitectos
For those unfamiliar with Korean Heritage and its symbols, the choice of the jury for a new complex to house artifacts, now located at various scattered sites, would seem to beg more information, especially when one views the designs of the non-selected finalists—all quite modern. Some of this can certainly be explained by the subject matter of the new museum’s holdings, another by the site in broader terms. Some might say that emphasis placed on the heritage element in the design brief fostered an interpretation leading to the choice of the winning design: “The site chosen for the new Chungji National Museum is logical: Chungju, located in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, is the center of the so-called ‘Jungwon culture,’ which has played an important role geographically and historically since ancient time. Jungwon culture developed around the Namhan River, which runs through the central region from east to west, and the relics showing this are currently scattered and stored in various museums.”
Read more… University of Florida’s College of Design Construction and Planning’s New Addition 
Development phase image courtesy ©Brooks + Scarpa
If architects have had one complaint concerning the planning and realization of a project, it has been with planners and especially construction managers, both of whom often display a lack of knowledge about architecture. The survival of a well-conceived design can hang in the balance when there is a knowledge gap at the planning and realization end.
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