 The Eisenhower Memorial: Sending Mixed Messages? by Stanley Collyer
Preface Since this article was written, several events have occurred which have changed our perception of the final design process. Frank Gehry went back to the drawing board and has modified his memorial design, eliminating some of the columns which we objected to at the edge of the site (January 2011, see above). One may only hope that the tapastry design element, which the Arts Commission still has some reservations about, can be resolved successfully. More recently, a group called the National Civic Art Society in Washington has issued a call for another Eisenhower Memorial competition for the same site. Apparently stuck on the idea that everything in Washington near the Mall should be in the Beaux Arts traditional style, they take offense that the Gehry design does not meet their standards of what a memorial to Ike should look like. Although probably well-meaning, this group evidently would like to turn back the clock on progress in this field. They would like to erase from memory all the advancements in new materials and ideas which have surfaced and been implemented over the past century. Is it then surprising that not one architect on their board is a national name (Most of their members are laypersons). Although their competition will undoubtedly draw some entries, it should hardly be taken seriously, much less receive any attention from the press. What they are doing is adding nothing to a positive dialogue about architecture in this country—only attempting to set it back by decades. -Ed Frank Gehry’s preferred idea for the Eisenhower Memorial was one of three proposals which the firm presented in March 2010 to the Eisenhower Memorial Commission after prevailing in the earlier selection process. Although not touted as a pure competition by the Memorial Commission, the original selection process in 2009 was typical of the General Services Administration’s Excellence in Architecture program, often used to adjudicate the design process for government projects such as federal courthouses. Read more…
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North Point Competition model, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2003) COMPETITIONS: As has been case with many architects, your career got a very big boost by virtue of winning a competition — Colton Palms Senior Apartments. Was that the very first competition you participated in? VALERIO: No. It wasn’t the first, and it wasn’t the Read more…
 | | Photo: ©Mary McCartney | | As was the case with many in the U.S. who had not seen her work, my first encounter with a Zaha Hadid project and with the architect herself was at the dedication of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati (COMPETITIONS 2003, Vol. 13, #2), with the headline, “Cubism Comes to Cincinnati.” This was a real challenge, because the CAC site was not generous in size or configuration, but constrained on a prominent corner location in downtown Cincinnati. Because of site and floor plan limitations, the staging of large exhibitions is in itself a work of art. And the generous space allocated for the stairs in the atrium, while bringing in much needed light and resulting in a moving experience for visitors, did reduce valuable space for exhibits. This was an additional case that posed | | 
| | Photo: ©Paul Warchol | the question: whether Zaha’s design talents could also produce a building that would work ideally for users. Later projects, such as the BMW plant in Leipzig, indicated that function and form could happily coexist. Even her unbuilt Cardiff Opera House, a competition so well documented by Nicholas Crickhowell’s book, Opera House Lottery, held promise as one of the world’s groundbreaking performance venues. The Cardiff Opera house controversy may not have enhanced her reputation in the eyes of some potential clients; but she subsequently was able to design and build many projects around the world, but few in this country—one of the notable exceptions being the new Michigan State University Art Museum.
Over the years, Zaha’s firm became one of the foremost invited participants in competitions worldwide. We never counted them, but we were amazed that she could devote so much energy and time to the number of competitions which her firm participated in. Read more…
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add photo credits for posts that match news letter 12/10/2015 remove  from imported posts from joomla fix links at bottom of news letter for account etc caption ompetition posted on this website about an expansion project undertaken by a Swedish university is a common theme for today’s architects. Libraries, universities, and especially museums Read more…
ICC 2016: The Competition Mesh: Experimenting With and Within Architecture Competitions
Sponsor: Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, U.K.
Dates: 27-29 October 2016
Theme: Research on the topic of competitions
Contact: http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/icc2016/ Read more…
February 25, 2016
BLF New Headquarters Competition in Lebanon
Vew down to the site Prof. Luca Molinari of Milan was recently engaged by Banque-Libano Française to organize and administer an international competition for the choice of a designer for the New Banque-Libano Française Headquarters in Beirut (http://www.blfheadquarters.com/).
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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.
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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… |
