National Museum of Romanian Jewry and the Holocaust in RomaniaSponsors: Romanian Government Facilitator: Elie Weisel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania Type: Open, international Location: Banloc-Goodrich Palace (also know as the “Red Building”), Bucharest, Romania Eligibility: Languages: English, Romanian Fees: None (Compensation: Each team to receive £6,000 for documents delivery) Timetable: 19 October 2020 – Site visit (Register by 10/16/2020) 23 October 2020 – Deadline for Questions 7 December 2020 – Submissions deadline 14 December 2020 – Jury ranking of submissions Jury: • Antonel Tănase The General Secretariat of the Government; • Radu Ioanid The Ministry of Foreign Affairs • Paul Shapiro United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; • Aurel Vainer The Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania; • Florin Manole Roma Cultural Center ”O Del Amenca” • Ileana Murgescu Tureanu The Union of Romanian Architects; • Sergiu Nistor “Ion Mincu` University of Architecture and Urbanism; • Mihaela Criticos `Ion Mincu` University of Architecture and Urbanism; • Cristina Verona Tobi The National Museum of Art of Romania; • Virgil Nițulescu The National Museum of the Romanian Peasant • Ciprian Anghel Ștefan Astra Museum Complex, Sibiu; • Constantin Gorcea Graphic Design Architecture, Suceava; • Elisabeth Ungureanu, ”Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania Challenge The purpose of the National Museum of the History of the Romanian Jewry and the Holocaust is to present and promote the history, culture, and traditions of the Jewish communities in Romania and to educate local and international audiences on this national minority’s contributions to the evolution and development of Romanian society over time. Moreover, the activity of the future institution will include a major educational component, the central elements of which will be to protect the memory of the Holocaust victims and to promote non-discrimination. Location: the museum will be set up in the downtown of Bucharest, in one of the most emblematic areas of the city, Calea Victoriei street, in the Banloc-Goodrich building, projected by the architect Octav Doicescu, during the 1940s. The Call for Application with full information is accessible on: www.inshr-ew.ro/museumcompetition-2020/ . |
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… |