competitions

Today more than ever before, tasks in the domains of regional planning and architecture require innovative approaches. Competitions assure the optimisation of the decision-making process. They create a formal framework with clear deadlines and assist in the search for the best possible solution.

The sponsor, in conjunction with the coordinator, exercises control over all stages of the competition, starting with the choice of the procedure appropriate to the task at hand.

Architectural competitions imply the necessity to formulate a clearly defined task, even before issuing the invitation to tender. The close cooperation of the sponsor, the jurors and the experts results in a significant decrease in the number of planning mistakes and wrong decisions. Instead, a maximum degree of planning security is achieved at an early stage.

Equally, the early involvement of the competent authorities and political bodies in the preparation of the competition and their participation in the jury help to speed up the approval procedure.

The sponsor is provided with a great number of alternative solutions at favourable conditions. The average total costs of a competition amount to 0.5—1.5 % of the construction sum, and for major projects they are significantly lower. The intense consideration of the task and the multitude of proposed solutions do often reveal new aspects that are relevant for the sponsor.

Due to the high motivation of the participants, competitions yield important functional and economic solutions that eventually may help significantly reduce both construction and
consequential costs.

For architects, the competition constitutes both a challenge and the chance of winning a prize and of subsequently being commissioned to do the implementation planning. It gives them an opportunity to pit their wits against their fellow architects and develop a distinctive profile.

With the awarding of prizes, the best architects are won for the subsequent implementation stage. Depending on the nature of the competition, young, less reknown architectural offices can make their mark by winning an award and are given the chance to contribute new insights to the project.

Last but not least, the arranging of architectural competitions is a very highly esteemed cultural asset, the positive image of which may be turned, vis-à-vis the general public, to the advantage of the sponsor and the building project.