 Although known in Chicago primarily for his schools, John Ronan’s Poetry Foundation building on West Superior Street has received more recognition on a national scale. But in the architectural community, schools such as the Gary Comer College Prep School on Chicago’s South Side, or Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School have gained him praise from his peers. Along the way, he won a national, open competition for Perth Amboy High School in New Jersey, as well as first place in the Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums competition in Washington, DC, which was subsequently realized.
Photo: ©Michelle Litvin
When it was announced that John Ronan would be the lone architect to represent Chicago in the invited Obama Library competition, it was only natural that many would assume that he would be a ‘wild card’, as he was matched up against a collection of star architects from around the world.
John Ronan received his B.Arch from the University of Michigan and M.Arch from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. After stints with the Chicago firms Krueck & Sexton Architects and Lohan Associates, he established his own firm in 1997.
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Rob Quigley, together with Parker Sadler, won the international competition for a new San Diego Central Library in 1996, but had to wait 18 years for the project to become a reality. In the interim, the firm became noted for residential housing, designing over 30 residences, several of which won local and national awards. Their municipal, educational and infrastructure/mixed-use projects produced some notable buildings, including the Solana Beach light rail station, Gilman Mixed-use building, and West Valley Library.
The Quigley firm was also involved in several competitions, as a finalist in the University of New Mexico School of Architecture competition, and as winner of the San Diego Downtown Historic Harborfront Competition.
Quigley received his B.Arch degree from the University of Utah, served in the Peace Corps in Chile, where he was responsible for the design and construction of low-cost residential and community projects. He became design partner in founding the firm, Gluth and Quigley Architecture in 1974. The firm, Rob Wellington Quigley, was established in 1978.
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OFIS Architects, led by principals Rok Oman and Spela Videcnik, is a successful firm based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Both architects finished their university studies at about the time that Slovenia gained its independence during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and gained an additional global perspective at the AA in London. Unencumbered by the rigid procurement system of the former Communist regime, the firm quickly adjusted to a market system and achieved remarkable results, winning some important design competitions along the way both at home and abroad. Among those were several housing competitions in Slovenia, the FC Bate Borisov Soccer Stadium in Belarus, and a student housing competition in Paris near La Villette. More recently, Spela Videcnik and Rok Oman have currently been in the United States as visiting critics at Harvard.
Spela Videcnik and Rok Oman
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Craig Dykers, one of the original founders of Snøhetta, established the U.S.-based office of the Norwegian firm in New York City in 2006 after receiving a coveted commission for the new National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at Ground Zero. Snøhetta’s origins date back to the 1989 Alexandria Library Competition in Egypt, where the winning team, consisting of three architects in Los Angeles and two Oslo architects, all of whom were under 30 years of age, won the competition. With the support of the Norwegian government, that team established itself in Oslo, took on the name, Snøhetta, and subsequently won several competitions, including the much acclaimed Oslo Opera House Competition. The New York City office, established by Dykers, has subsequently won several important commissions in the U.S.: including the Bowling Green State University Performing Arts Center; North Carolina State University Library on their new, west campus; Temple University Library; and the recent Calgary Public Library, the latter won in a invited competition.
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The Architectural League’s Current Work series features the work of significant international figures who powerfully influence contemporary architectural practice and shape the future of the built environment. Craig Dykers and Elaine Molinar will present Snøhetta’s work in a public lecture
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THEME: Carbin-neutral public art generating electricity and/or drinking water Sponsor: Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) Type: open Location: Santa Monica, California Fee: none Language: English Timetable: 15 April 2016 – Q&A period ends 15 May 2016 – Submissions deadline Awards: 1st Prize – $15,000 2nd Prize – $4,000 For information, go to:
http://landartgenerator.org/designcomp/about-the-2016-competition/
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Sponsors: National Trust for Historic Preservation, Borough of Queens, etc.Type: open, international, one-stage, ideasEligibility: Must be 13 years of age to enterFee: NoneLanguage: English (program also available in Spanish and Chinese)Timetable1 July 2016 – Submission deadlineAwards:1st prize – $3,0002nd prize – $1,0003rd prize – $500Fan favorite – $500Design ChallengeDesigned by Philip Johnson, the New
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Modular Building of the South Czech Philharmonic
Sponsor: KOMA Modular TechnologyLocation: Ceské Budejovice, Czech RepublicType: open, internationalEligibility: Open to students of architecture and civil engineering and young architects and civil engineers within 5 years after graduationFee: NoneTimetable:28 April 2016 – Q & A period closes30 May 2016 – Submission deadlineInternational Jury:
Caroline Bijvoet (NL) /
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To the Competition Participants:First of all, please accept my deep apologies for the situation.The tendering procedure of New SkyRider International Competition project, conducted by Urban and Rural Development Department, New Taipei City Government (hereinafter referred to as ”Agency”) has been suspended due to the project site, located in the Wenzizhen Redevelopment Zone, cannot be obtained
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Sponsors: CTBUH and KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox)Type: Open, International, studentEligibility: Open to students in accredited schools of architectureLanguage: EnglishFee: noneTimetable:Monday, July 18th – Registration deadlineMonday, July 25th – Submission deadlineMonday, August 8th – Short-listed “Semi-finalists” announcedThursday, August 18th – Top-five “Finalists” announcedMonday–Friday, October 17th–21st – CTBUH 2016 Conference, Top-five Finalists will present to the jury
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Helsinki Central Library, by ALA Architects (2012-2018)
The world has experienced a limited number of open competitions over the past three decades, but even with diminishing numbers, some stand out among projects in their categories that can’t be ignored for the high quality and degree of creativity they revealed. Included among those are several invited competitions that were extraordinary in their efforts to explore new avenues of institutional and museum design. Some might ask why the Vietnam Memorial is not mentioned here. Only included in our list are competitions that were covered by us, beginning in 1990 with COMPETITIONS magazine to the present day. As for what category a project under construction (Science Island), might belong to or fundraising still in progress (San Jose’s Urban Confluence or the Cold War Memorial competition, Wisconsin), we would classify the former as “built” and wait and see what happens with the latter—keeping our fingers crossed for a positive outcome.
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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/
RUR model perspective – ©RUR
New Kaohsiung Port and Cruise Terminal, Taiwan (2011-2020)
Reiser+Umemoto RUR Architecture PC/ Jesse Reiser – U.S.A.
with
Fei & Cheng Associates/Philip T.C. Fei –R.O.C. (Tendener)
This was probably the last international open competition result that was built in Taiwan. A later competition for the Keelung Harbor Service Building Competition, won by Neil Denari of the U.S., the result of a shortlisting procedure, was not built. The fact that the project by RUR was eventually completed—the result of the RUR/Fei & Cheng’s winning entry there—certainly goes back to the collaborative role of those to firms in winning the 2008 Taipei Pop Music Center competition, a collaboration that should not be underestimated in setting the stage for this competition.
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Winning entry ©Herzog de Meuron
In visiting any museum, one might wonder what important works of art are out of view in storage, possibly not considered high profile enough to see the light of day? In Korea, an answer to this question is in the making.
It can come as no surprise that museums are running out of storage space. This is not just the case with long established “western” museums, but elsewhere throughout the world as well. In Seoul, South Korea, such an issue has been addressed by planning for a new kind of storage facility, the Seouipul Open Storage Museum. The new institution will house artworks and artifacts of three major museums in Seoul: the Seoul Museum of Modern Art, the Seoul Museum of History, and the Seoul Museum of Craft Art.
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Belfast Looks Toward an Equitable and Sustainable Housing Model
Birdseye view of Mackie site ©Matthew Lloyd Architects
If one were to look for a theme that is common to most affordable housing models, public access has been based primarily on income, or to be more precise, the very lack of it. Here it is no different, with Belfast’s homeless problem posing a major concern. But the competition also hopes to address another of Belfast’s decades-long issues—its religious divide. There is an underlying assumption here that religion will play no part in a selection process. The competition’s local sponsor was “Take Back the City,” its membership consisting mainly of social advocates. In setting priorities for the housing model, the group interviewed potential future dwellers as well as stakeholders to determine the nature of this model. Among those actions taken was the “photo- mapping of available land in Belfast, which could be used to tackle the housing crisis. Since 2020, (the group) hosted seminars that brought together international experts and homeless people with the goal of finding solutions. Surveys and workshops involving local people, housing associations and council duty-bearers have explored the potential of the Mackie’s site.” This research was the basis for the competition launched in 2022.
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Alster Swimming Pool after restoration (2023)
Linking Two Competitions with Three Modernist Projects
Hardly a week goes by without the news of another architectural icon being threatened with demolition. A modernist swimming pool in Hamburg, Germany belonged in this category, even though the concrete shell roof had been placed under landmark status. When the possibility of being replaced by a high-rise building, it came to the notice of architects at von Gerkan Marg Partners (gmp), who in collaboration with schlaich bergermann partner (sbp), developed a feasibility study that became the basis for the decision to retain and refurbish the building.
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Although known in Chicago primarily for his schools, John Ronan’s Poetry Foundation building on West Superior Street has received more recognition on a national scale. But in the architectural community, schools such as the Gary Comer College Prep School on Chicago’s South Side, or Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School have gained him praise from his peers. Along the way, he won a national, open competition for Perth Amboy High School in New Jersey, as well as first place in the Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums competition in Washington, DC, which was subsequently realized. 
