San Jose’s Search for an Urban Icon

 

The Urban Confluence Silicon Valley Competition

 

Image ©SMAR Architecture

 

After several stops and starts, a decision to name the winner of the Urban Confluence Design Competition appears to be nearing its conclusion. In 2017, three founders of a local non-profit established The San Jose Light Tower Corporation (SJLTC). The founders

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Uusi Kansallinen – National Finnish Museum Competition: Following a Time Honored Paradigm

 

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

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Ground Breaking at Science Island

 

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

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The Eisenhower Memorial: Sending Mixed Messages?

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The Eisenhower Memorial: Sending Mixed Messages? by Stanley Collyer

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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.

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Zumthor on the Chopping Block?

An Ideas Competition in Opposition to a Concrete Design

 

Entry by TheeAe (Image © TheeAe)

 

 

In early 2020, a group advocating a new approach to the design of the Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA)—The Citizens’ Brigade to Save LACMA—organized a competition to counter an existing design by the Swiss

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A New State Archive in Kitzingen, Germany

 

1st Place – gmp Architekten Photo: ©Hans-Joachim Wuthenow, Berlin

 

As part of a policy to relocate archives of local interest outside of major Bavarian cities, a competition was staged for the design of a new archive in Kitzingen, 12 miles from the provincial capital city of Würzburg, Germany. The competition was

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Babyn Yar Ukrainian Memorial Competition


1st Prize Entry by querkraft architekten (Image © querkraft architekten)

 

 

Memorials to commemorate atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II have taken many forms. Holocaust museums such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. by Pei Cobb Freed or the Jewish Museum in Berlin by Daniel Libeskind, all endeavor to paint a broad picture, including narratives covering most of the major events and sites. Former concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau, Theresienstadt and Buchenwald have been frequent tour destinations. In the case of Buchenwald, the local city of Weimar has placed pictures of “Witnesses” throughout the downtown area as a reminder of the Nazi legacy.

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RIBA International Competition | The Low Line

Type: open, international, two-stage Fee: None Language: English

Timetable:

2 September 2019 – Stage 1 deadline

Process and compensation:

The initial phase of the competition invites teams of architects, landscape architects, designers, ecologists and other design-related disciplines to submit designs anonymously, in digital format only. Five concept designs will then be shortlisted for further development.

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The Future Park Design Ideas Competition: New Public Space for Melbourne

Sponsors: University of Melbourne, in partnership with Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Type: Open, international, ideas Location: Melbourne, Australia Eligibility: This competition seeks to enhance the role of landscape architecture and the public realm in Australian cities. However, the competition does not restrict entry to registered landscape architects or those studying within landscape

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Movies in the Park: Garage Screen Summer Cinema Competition in Moscow

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