Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot: A innovative & experimental manifestation or a political & economical tool

Between 2013 and 2016 a striking number of 11665 architecture competitions were held in the EU, which is around 3888 competitions per year. Competitions were a way to be innovative, experimental and idealistic. However, due to the strike regulations and entry requirements, small businesses and young architects are often excluded. The question...

Architecture as Exchange: Framing the Architecture Competition as Contact Zone

The editorial introduction to this issue of Footprint follows a double trajectory. On the one hand, it describes an ambition for architecture historiography. The social sciences have long recognised the need for more comprehensive and inclusive methods for writing history. Among them, comparative literature scholar Mary Louise Pratt’s ‘contact...

Paradoxes and management approaches of competing for work in creative professional service firms

Despite their business relevance, creative professional service firms are under-researched, in particular with regard to how they compete for work. Competing for work is key to survival, but also extremely challenging due to the complexity of the services offered. In this paper we use a paradox framework to investigate the opposing demands...

A critical overview of Architectural Competitons in Turkey: Two contradicted competition stories in Istanbul: IMC blocks / Zorlu Center projects

This paper’s aim is to make a comparative analysis of the two contradicted multi-leg mixused projects and their architectural and urban design process / the competition process; the communist, nationalist, designer-related, revolutionary, innovative, transparent, extroverted, humble, urban related IMC Blocks include the Linen and Drapers Offices...

The client regime in competitions - from requirement to professional praxis in selection of design teams to competitions

This paper discusses the client regime in competitions. I present a client regime theory based on case studies of six restricted competitions in Sweden; three architectural competitions and three developer competitions. The competition task includes both senior housing and ordinary apartments. All six competitions have been organized by the...

Are clients, architects and juries becoming environmental? -A critical view on the competition briefs and the juries’ assessments in relation to the outcome in ten school competitions

This paper first examines how evaluation criteria for judging architecture evolve over time. Secondly it takes a look on how new assessment criteria are emphasized when judging architecture. Finally this paper seeks to study to what degree the new assessment criterion, whether a project is environmental or not, is emphasized. This is studied...

The building process as a chain of displacements - Following a construction project from strategic planning through an architectural competition to the building permit

While research on architectural competitions can be considered a well-established field nowadays, research on the transition between the competition procedure and the subsequent project phase remains fragmentary. The paper at hand aims at addressing this gap. Standing in the tradition of actor-network theory (Callon 1986; Law and John 2004;...

Beyond the success and failure of the Athens D.O.E.S. 2002 cultural olympiad competition

On the occasion of the Athens 2004 Olympics the Hellenic Ministry of Culture supported the launching of an open international architecture competition on Ephemeral Structures in the City of Athens (Athens D.O.E.S.) under the auspices of the International Union of Architects (UIA). The competition was organized in the context of the Cultural...

“Shall we compete?”

Following previous research on competitions from Portuguese architects abroad we propose to show a risomatic string of politic, economic and sociologic events that show why competitions are so much appealing. We will follow Álvaro Siza Vieira and Eduardo Souto de Moura as the former opens the first doors to competitions and the latter follows...

Architectural competitions as a municipal instrument for innovating space for the ageing society: the dynamics of three competitions

Sweden is entering the ageing society. On a national level, and in a cyclic process with a time lap of 30 to 40 years, three architecture competitions have been realized during the 20th century in order to renew spatial thinking concerning housing for dependent and frail persons in need of daily care and caring, in the following termed...

An Epistemological Assessment of Tensions between Expert Evaluations and Qualitative Judgment in Architectural Competitions

How do expert evaluations and expertise impact the outcome of the architectural competitions? What do they bring to the judgment process? This study of experts and expertise in the judgment process originated from our previous study that showed that environmental management tools are shifting the definition of quality in the architectural...

A toolbox for iconic architecture

The study explores how creation of iconic architecture can be intentionally facilitated using the toolbox inherent in the competition system. The study defines iconicity as a status a building may gain through intentional process of iconification with participation of the client providing prerequisites, the architect shaping iconic features, the...

Airports in Architectural Competitions 1920-40

Stockholms first land airport opened 1936 in Bromma, to day a suburb 7 km west of Stockholm City Center. The final organization and design of the airport buildings was the result of an invited architectural competition. The airport is still operating and in 2012 it was Sweden's fourth airport in number of passengers. The air station building of...

Crossing the radical edge. Which kind of innovation can architectural design competitions produce? A differentiated approach based on housing

This paper investigates how the format of architectural competitions influences the degree of innovation achievable. Innovation can be defined as a new combination of means and aims. The applicability of the notions concerning innovation developed the management and social disciplines to architecture has received little attention– especially for...