Architectural design competition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new (often public) building asks for architects to enter differing designs for the building. The winning design is usually chosen by a panel of non-competing architects and government and local representatives. Student design competitions are also held.

This method is used to generate interesting ideas for the building design, to generate publicity for the project and allow unknown designers the opportunity of gaining exposure. Attaining the first prize in a competition is no guarantee that the project will be completed. This is due to any number of local issues that can develop at the proposed construction site. The owner of the site must also be able to obtain financing for constrction and often has the right to veto the winning design. The original 2002 World Trade Center Master Design Contest in New York City is a prime example of a highly publicized competition where only the basic elements of the winning design by Daniel Libeskind will appear in the finished project.