An Ideas Competition in Berlin Seeks Answers Winning entry perspective Image: ©AllesWirdGut Architekten Berlin developer HOWOGE recently staged what was regarded as a “planning Laboratory” competition for a model satellite in northwest Berlin. The brief for this invited competition noted that the urban sprawl, which had accompanied the reunification of Read more…
Image: ©wHY Architecture Earlier this year, an article in the Architects’ Journal described what almost sounded like a death knell for wHY Architecture’s winning competition design for Edinburgh’s Ross Pavilion site. When the competition took place, some observers may have regarded wHY as a wild card, in the company of such high-profile Read more…
Astrakhan Looks to Raise Its Quality of Life Index Aerial view of downtown Astrakhan Planning competitions with a strong landscape component take many forms, including some for plazas and gateways to major town centers, city neighborhood sites with multi-story housing units, university campus plans and finally, comprehensive city plans—the latter Read more…
Siemens Healthineers Campus, Bengaluru Aerial View of site, Rendering: ©Eller + Eller Architekten Siemens new Healthineers campus in Bengaluru, India, is hardly a milestone in the design of major R&D facilities. Although the winning design by Eller + Eller Architekten did include the necessity to go higher than the Read more…
SWA/Balsley Wins Paveletskaya Plaza Landscape Competition Aerial view at night – courtesy SWA/Balsley 5+ Design 0f the nine railway stations in Moscow, Paveletskaya is the largest and one of the last of those that opened around the turn of the century. Compared to other Moscow stations, Paveletskaya, designed by Alexander Krasovsky Read more…
Image Courtesy Network Rail From Grand Central Station to King’s Cross in London, railway stations have often represented some of the major architectural accomplishments of our times. But those edifices have been primarily located in great cities. In the U.K. there are over 2,000 stations located in medium-sized, small, and rural communities. Read more…
Pedestrian perspective The result of an effort from a professor at the TUM (Technische Universität München) to restore the Budludzha Monument in Bulgaria, located in a remote location on a mountain top in that country, we discovered that it originally was the result of a 1959 design competition won by the young Read more…
Competition sponsor: UC Berkeley Prize Essay Competition and Community service Fellowship Competition Competition type: essay General competition goals: Through distinct competitions – the perennial Essay Competition and various Fellowship Competitions – the international Berkeley Prize competition encourages undergraduate architecture students worldwide to go into their communities for the purpose of thinking and writing about issues Read more…
A Flawed Plan Leads to Budget Issues Competition rendering of project looking south to Mies museum ©Herzog de Meuron Once considered in the forefront of modern architecture in post-WWII Europe, Berlin has had its share of questionable decisions concerning important urban projects in recent history. Beginning with the rebirth of the Read more…
The Urban Confluence Silicon Valley Competition Urban Confluence Silicon Valley winner: ©SMAR Architecture Studio After several stops and starts over an extended period of time, the winner of the Urban Confluence Design Competition was named in early March, 2021. SMAR Architecture Studio’s The Breeze of Innovation, which prevailed over two other Read more… |
Vilnius Railway Station and Public Square Competition 
Vilnius Station competition Image: ©Zaha Hadid Architects
How do you find a common thread that can connect an eclectic collection of buildings, visually as well as physically, all located within a one-block site, located just across from Canada’s Parliament building in Ottawa. To identify this common thread that could tie everything together, the client turned to a design competition for answers. With the aid of consultants, [phase eins] from Berlin and experts from Canada’s’ own Université de Montréal’s School of Architecture, the client turned to an invited international format to finally settle on six teams that could rethink the site. Read More… Ottawa Parliamentary Precinct Renewal Competition 
Culminating in a year’s long process, the winner of the Ottawa Parliamentary Precinct was David Chipperfield Architects, one of the six shortlisted firms designated to participate in the competition. An April 10th viewing of the public presentation of the six finalists was viewed by scores on Facebook. From the impressions gained from that event, it was apparent that Chipperfield and Behnisch were the probable frontrunners. Chipperfield’s presentation emphasized the materiality of their design as a design strategy intended to embrace the architectural context of the precinct. Together with a very straightforward circulation plan, in the end, this had to be a major factor in the jury’s decision. Read more… 
After narrowing the field to three finalists and reviewing their presentations via ZOOM, the competition jury gave the nod to KUTONOTUK of Charlottesville, VA as the winner. The winning team is led by principals, Leena Cho and Matthew Jull, faculty members at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture. Second place went to FORMA from New York City, and third place was awarded to Lewis Williams with Hudson Architects from Norwich, England. Presentations of all three finalists can be seen here:
https://competitions.org/2022/03/atlantic-beach-nc-boardwalk-design-competition/ 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/ AL_A Prevails over a Star-studded Cast 
After over a year of planning, the choice of a site, and the establishment of criteria for the staging an international competition for a new concert hall, the process recently culminated in the choice of an architect for the design of the new Philharmonic in Belgrade, Serbia. Once a rather drab, nondescript city under the Tito regime, Belgrade has been reimagining itself to take its place as a major European city, including cultural attractions one might attach to such a claim. Read more… 
Boardwalk photo: Courtesy Atlantic Beach
Boardwalks, especially on oceanfront locations, have a pretty universal look. But how they fit into their local context is another matter. Topography, real estate and commerce all play a role in their function, and to some extent, design. In the case of Miami Beach, it’s primarily a promenade; Brooklyn’s 2.7 mile Coney Island boardwalk stretching all the way to Brighton Beach is a mixture of promenade and commerce, with the latter at both ends. In the case of Atlantic City, it’s mostly about retail.
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Winning entry – Hyunjoon Min Architects Office
National Library of Korea Data Preservation Center Competition
Retrofitting existing buildings is nothing new. The abandonment of old factory structures, especially in the northeast of the U.S., has been occurring at a rapid pace ever since those businesses ceased to be profitable in the face of foreign competition. However, in North America, retrofitting those structures has seldom been the subject of a design competition. In Korea, the recent plethora of design competitions for all types of projects has also included several for providing a new life for abandoned buildings. Read more… Countryside Dilemmas – New Rural Planning 
1st Place – ©Tianjin University Team
Planning used to be at the bottom of Chinese students’ lists of design priorities. One western architect, whose firm was at the forefront in the design and implementation of numerous planning projects in China, surmised that planning was an area that received little attention in the university curricula. So when planning for a major metropolitan area has occurred, the Chinese have almost always turned to outside international firms for ideas and implementation. Read more… |
