Design of a Park along the Boulevard of Serbian Army in Banja Luka
 Aerial view of site Sponsors: City of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Type: Internation, open, anonymous
Fees: none
Languages: English/Serbian
Eligibiility: Architects, Landscape Architects, Designers
Timetable: 5 December 2021 – Design submissions deadline
Awards:
– FIRST PRIZE 15.000,00 EUR (equivalent in BAM)
– SECOND PRIZE 7.500,00 EUR (equivalent in BAM)
– THIRD PRIZE 3.750,00 EUR (equivalent in BAM)
Design Criteria:
Competition Jury will evaluate the submitted competition proposals according to the following criteria:
Meeting the requirements of the competition announcement and program;
The quality of spatial structure and the connection between spatial contents;
Evaluated will be the connectedness and relations of spatial wholes of the complex on two levels including the following:
• a functional one which refers to movement efficiency of users and the availability of spatial contents and sub-wholes of the complex, all in relation to the hierarchy of their purposes;
• spatial-semantic which refers to the metaphorical expression of the spatial structure of the complex.
A design will be evaluated where users orient themselves in an appropriate way, and efficiently access the spatial content they use. The various levels of movement should be undisturbed from each other. A special complexity is the fact that there are two basic types of traffic in the complex, pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and within different categories. In addition, the interrelationship of spatial sub-wholes will be evaluated, which ensures their optimal functioning, having in mind the characteristics of individual, key contents that, including the simultaneous presence of a large number of users, may overlap in their activities.
•Improvement of the identity of the place/location
The attractiveness and recognisability of the space of the park complex and the immediate surroundings will be evaluated through the offered design of urban structures and ambient wholes. In addition to the efficient functioning of the complex, its spatial anatomy must metaphorically express the character and interrelationships of the spatial contents that make it up. The spatial structure should be a “text” that communicates to the user a message about a place where sports, recreation, culture, art and leisure occur and where ideas and emotions are exchanged for the purpose of progress and upgrade of the whole local and wider community, because parks have a specific character as living structures of the urban context, and they are close to each of the inhabitants of Banja Luka and remain as important messages about time. They are to the city like a metaphor is to a poet, without them the city loses its identity.
• Quality of landscape shaped structure and connecting with the existing vegetation
Criteria for evaluating of the shaping of the green structure of the park are as follows: unity and proportionality of constituent elements and the whole landscape, decoration of forms, colour relationship of plant groups entering the composition as well as individual solitary trees, laws of line and air perspective, light and shadow relationships, ways of shaping of the composition, providing balance and the context itself. The vital green fund should be kept, with appropriate interventions in the capacity of conservation, and linked in an environmentally friendly manner to the proposed green matrix design. In the spirit of modern tendencies of landscape design that promotes the importance of ecosystem services and nature-inspired solutions, it is necessary to form creative compositional structures of different colours, contrasting volumes and surface textures, which abound in values and different time rhythms of physiological processes.
• Compatibility with parameters of location
The proposed design must be sustainable in terms of usability, feasibility and maintenance. The concept of space exploitation, the logic of its use, movement, position of the entrance, the sense of keeping users in the space, the performance aspect and maintenance requirements, as well as the use of location parameters will be evaluated.
• Stages of realization
The offered designs will be evaluated through the realization of the possibility of stage realization, i.e. the possibilities of gradual growth and natural development of the content on the principles of sustainability of the existing spatial benefits.
• Rationality of the design
The offered design needs to solve the network of internal traffic as an infrastructure element of support of functioning of the complex.
• Green and Smart approach
Part of the bid invitation task is to formulate the manner of realization of the complex that should be built using the green and smart concept; The connection of modern technological solutions that will enable energy efficiency, i.e. the realization of additional value for all participants in the process of construction and use of the complex, society as a whole, as well as nature itself, will be evaluated.
For the Q&A site and documentation available in English on the following link:
en.banjaluka.rs.ba/competition-park-bl
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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… 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/ 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.
Read more…
Houston Endowment’s New Headquarters on the Bayou
Southwest view Houston Endowment Headquarters – Photo Ivan Baan, courtesy Kevin Daly Following in the footsteps of other major non-profits—The Ford Foundation and LA’s California Endowment Center in particular—the Houston Endowment’s new headquarters, located on a grassy knoll just above the Buffalo Bayou in the city’s outskirts, has also made a strong architectural statement. Similar to the California Endowment, this project was also the result of a design competition, won by the California firm, Kevin Daly Architects. Read more…
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… 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… |
