ARCHITECTURAL

COMPETITIONS
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Shrobona Karkun- 061110005 | Pranjali Rai- 061110012 | Naman Mirajkar-

Introduction
2

What is and Architectural Design Competition?

In the most simplest words -An architectural design

competition is a special type of competition in which an
organization or government body that plans to build a new building
asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building.
Architecture competitions have a more than 2,500-year-old history.
The Acropolis in Athens was a result of an architectural
competition, as were several cathedrals in the Middle Ages.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Introduction
3

To many clients/promoters - the choice of an architect presents no

difficulty, but to many others the choice is not easy.

The promoters desire to see the conceptual stage of the design before
commissioning the architect is understandable but is it fair to ask an
architect to submit a conceptual design, to do the essential creative work
for which he should be properly paid for no charge?
The only other option left is that more than one or two architects are

commissioned payment to each which would be a very expensive affair.

Architects, however, in their own free will are allowed to compete
against each other for projects without charging a fee in an open
architectural competition held under Council of Architecture Guidelines.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Introduction
4

There are three major groups of people involved in this process of

Architectural Design Competition.

They are the Promoters, the Competitors and the Advisors and Assessors.
Each one of these groups have a specific role to play in this process.
The Promoters These are the group of people who can be called the
Clients or the people who are releasing the project, most times they have
little or no knowledge of the architectural field.
The Competitors These are the Architects or group of Architects who
send in their designs to be valued by the Promoters who takes the help of
the following group.
The Advisors and Assessors These are the people with prior knowledge
of the field and also the ones who frame the project brief for release and
also help the client in opting for a good design.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Introduction
5
Shown below is a compilation of the shortlisted entries in the competition for the design

of the Peace Palace in The Hague,1905.

Entries (from left to right) by Otto Wagner, Franz Heinrich Schwechten, Hendrik Petrus Berlage and built design by Louis M. Cordonnier.

This sort of competitions may be looked upon in various ways of which some may look

as if they are non-profitable but the essence of an architectural competition is in balance.

There are many advantages of Architectural Competitions for the Promoter as well as the
Competitors.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

The Advantages
6

For the Promoter:

The chance to draw upon the talents of all those who respond to the
architectural challenge, and the possibility that an outstanding design will
emerge.
Generation of greater public interest than which is normally shown in
normal buildings by making the declaration.
Gives the promoters a choice from the best viable project of high
standard with a variety of approaches.
Guarantee that he will get the best architect and the best design available
to him for that project.
The profession's willingness to allow its members to compete without fee
is a remarkable concession to the promoter without parallel in any other
profession.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

The Advantages
7

For the Competitor:

Architects who would not have been considered in the normal

way for an important commission, perhaps for a building of
national importance have an opportunity to prove their talent and
ability.
Many architects regard competitions as a valuable opportunity for
research, perhaps for the study of a new building type, or for
exploring the possibilities of new technical ideas and for gaining
new experience.
For every process there are some advantages and a few
disadvantages too.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

The Disadvantages
8

For the Promoter:

The whole process of setting up an Architectural Competition is a

more expensive than commissioning an architect in a normal way.
It take a lot more time to come up with a good design and a lot of
scrutiny to choose a good and apt design for the project.
For the Competitor:

The biggest drawback for the competitor in the process of acquiring a

project by the competition method is that he has to forego the fees for
the conceptual design stage.
He cannot discuss or negotiate the requirements or have any sort of
project related negotiations with the client before starting on the project
as that would violate the fairness of he competition.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Basic Guidelines
9

Competition Guidelines as laid down by the Council of Architecture

protect and safeguard the interests both of the promoter and the
competitor.
While ensuring the promoter a design of high standard and adjudged
as such by prominent Architects acting as Assessors, it also ensures
that each competitor competes on like conditions and within the
same limitations.
The guidelines lay considerable emphasis on the mandatory
requirement of Assessors and the qualifications.
The President of the Council of Architecture, if so requested by the
promoter, may suggest a panel of names experienced in the type of
project proposed, for appointment as Assessors.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Basic Guidelines
10

Their responsibilities commence with the approval of the brief of the

competition project. The Assessor may even help to prepare the

brief.
The guidelines followed by the Council of Architecture are:
Article 1 : Eligibility to compete: Participation in any and all
competitions shall be open to: Architects, Firms, Students of
Teaching Institutions.
Competitor may be requested to submit a proof of qualification,
copy of his valid Registration certificate issued by the Council of
Architecture, and in case of a student, a certificate from the head of
his institution

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Basic Guidelines
11

Article 2 : Competition: The word 'Competition' shall apply to any

competitions as described next and participation shall be open only to

those qualified as per Article 1.
Article 3 : The Board of Assessors: The Board of Assessors shall at
all times include Architects who are registered with the Council of
Architecture and shall be in a majority of at least one.
Article 4 : Prizes, Honoraria & Mentions: No competition shall be
conducted without adequate premium/honoraria and the competition
conditions and the media announcements must state the amounts and
number of prizes for all the competitions.
Article 5 : Copyright & Right of ownership:
Each competitor shall retain Copyright in his own competition design.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Basic Guidelines
12

Each competitor shall retain the right of reproduction of his own

competition design.
Article 6 : All competition designs including those disqualified by
the Board of Assessors shall be exhibited for at least one week,
together with a copy of the signed report of the Board of Assessors.
The exhibition shall be open to public free of charge.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Registration Procedure
13

It is extremely important for competitors who may be asked to pay

substantial registration fees to know exactly when they are registered and
under what conditions the registration fee will be refunded.
The Council of Architecture recommends 3 parts Procedure:
A descriptive leaflet and / or an advertisement in general and
professional media. These should include information like: Name of Promoter
and Assessors, the Purpose and Nature of competition, the prizes, the
eligibility and a approximate time table.
Part 2: The registration form should be sent by the intending competitor
within the time stipulated. It will establish his eligibility to compete.
Part 3:The competition condition will be sent to the intending competitor in
writing by the promoter only when his eligibility is established and his name
is entered in the competition register.

Part 1:

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
14

Project Competitions
To find the best solution for an
actual building project and to
appoint its author to carry out the
commission

Ideas Competitions
To elucidate certain aspects of
architectural and town planning
problems
The winner may not be
commissioned to execute the
project
Architecture students may
participate at discretion of the
promoter

In certain circumstances a competition may both be a project and

idea based.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
15

CLASSIFICATION:
Open Competitions
Competitions in which all Architects are invited to participate through an announcement by
advertisements in suitable media and through circulars which may be issued by the promoters. Open
competitions for projects estimated at less than Rs. 10,00,000/-may be restricted to Architects who
have their main or branch office in the State of the project site.

Limited Competitions for Competitions by Invitation

limited amount of Architects (approx. 5 to 8) selected by the promoter on the advice
of the Senior Architect Assessor or Board of Assessors, are invited to participate. Each participant
who submits his designs shall receive an honorarium.

Special Competitions
In competitions that involve town planning, use of industrial components or participation of
developers, participation may be required to be limited to professionals or group of
professionals with certain definite expertise. In such cases the competition announcement
shall clearly define the field of expertise.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
16

COMPETITION ORGANIZATION:
(According to number of stages)

I. Single stage competitions

Competition entries shall be fairly complete drawings i.e. plans, section, elevations, etc.

to a suitable scale and sufficient to explain the scheme as set out in the competition
conditions.
The designs so submitted shall be assessed by the Assessors for the award of the prizes
and the appointment of the architect.
Such competitions are recommended for small and simple project.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
17

II. Two Stage Competitions:

First stage: for soliciting ideas

Competition entries limited to planning on broad basis and drawings to a suitable scale
sufficient to indicate the intentions of the competitor.
Designs submitted in the first stage shall be assessed by the Assessors for selecting a small
number of competitors (between 5 and 10). The author of these selected designs will be invited to
take part in the second stage of the competition, and each architect so invited would be paid a
specified sum.

In order to maintain anonymity, each competitor will be informed individually regarding

invitation for second stage

Envelope handling guidelines by COA

The Board of Assessors, may, if found necessary and with the approval of the Promoter, clarify
or amplify points in the competition conditions for the benefit of the second stage
competitors. Such clarification or amplification shall not in any way disclose directly or
indirectly or even inadvertently any of the designs submitted in the first stage to those
invited for the second stage.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
18

Second Stage:

The second stage of the competition may be limited to only a part of the subject dealt
with in the first stage.
Members of the Board of Assessors shall be the same for first stage and second stage of
the competition.
The designs submitted for both the first stage and the second stage shall be exhibited
and/or published only after the final award of the second stage competition.
Two stage competitions are recommended for town planning and for large scale or
complex project.

The period between the Assessors award for the first stage and submission of designs for
the second stage shall not exceed six months. Only under exceptional circumstances
period may be extended.
If any design selected for the second stage is published or exhibited before the final award
of the second stage has been declared, it will be disqualified.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
19

Architectural Competition for campus of School of

Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
Expression of Interest (EoI)
for Two Stage Architectural Design Competition for
SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE, (SPA) BHOPAL (MP).

A two stage competition for design of buildings for the proposed academic campus of the

Institute of National importance at Bhauri village, Bhopal as per the already finalized
Master plan on a plot of 30.21 Ha.
any eligible registered architect, architectural firms or consortia meeting eligibility criteria
may participate.
The first stage has been aimed at soliciting ideas and concepts. Designs submitted in the
first stage shall be assessed by a Board of Assessors and up to 05 (five) best conceptual
designs will be shortlisted. The author of these selected designs will be invited to take part
in the second stage of the competition, and each architect so invited would be paid an
honorarium of Rs.Two Lacs after completion of the final assessment.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
20

Proposed Construction of AIIMS like Apex

Healthcare Institutes at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar,
Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur & Rishikesh
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India has

decided to hold a competition and invite Architects / Architectural Firms for

providing a single prototype architectural concept and architectural design for
setting up of Six Apex Healthcare Institutes in India.
MOHFW had invited global architects/architectural firms to submit Expression
of Interests (EOI) for the prototype architectural concept & architectural
design.
The built up area of each institute will be approximately 1,10,000 sq. m. and the
estimated cost for construction of each institute is Rs.200 crores (approx.)

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Competitions
21

III. Regional Special Category Competitions

This type of competition is intended for small projects of charitable organisations in

which four to six local firms will compete for the appointment as the Architect.
No premiums are given and the winner shall be appointed to carry out the project.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Advisers
22

TYPES OF ADVISERS:
I. Technical Adviser:
Appointing one or more technical advisers to assist in the preparation of the

brief for the competition project and to advise the Board of Assessors, only
when called upon to do so, on the competition design entries.
The promoter shall appoint technical adviser in consultation with the Senior Architect
Assessor/Board of Assessors.
The advise of the technical adviser will be limited to his expertise and he will have no voting
rights.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Types of Advisers
23

II. Professional Adviser:

For a two stage competition a Professional Adviser who shall be an Architect

registered with the Council of Architecture may be appointed.
On completion of the first stage of the competition the sealed envelopes
containing the names of the competitors shall be opened only by the
Promoter or Professional Adviser if appointed and he shall without
disclosing any of the names to anyone inform each competitor individually
whether he has or has not been invited for the second stage. All the
envelopes shall then be resealed by the Professional Adviser/Promoter till
the final award.
Clarification or amplification in a two stage competition shall be conveyed to
the competitors selected for the second stage only by the Professional
Adviser/Promoter.

The professional Adviser will not be connected with the Board of Assessors or attend any of
its meetings.
It will be the responsibility of the Professional Adviser to maintain the anonymity of each
competitor and those selected for the second stage of the competition.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Conditions for Architectural Competition

24

Various conditions are to be followed by promoter, assessor and competitor before,

during and after the course of architectural competition:
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION
GENERAL CONDITIONS
PRIZE MONEY & HONORARIA
ANONYMITY
COPYRIGHT & RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP
INSURANCE
COMPETITION TIME TABLE
COST ESTIMATES
TERMINATION OF COMPETITION
APPOINTMENT OF ARCHITECT
EXHIBITION OF ENTRIES
RETURN OF DESIGN DRAWINGS
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

RESPONSIBLITY CHART FOR FULFILLMENT OF CONDITIONS IN

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

CONDITIONS
Contractual Obligation
General Conditions
Prize money & Honoraria
Anonymity
Copyright & Right of Ownership
Insurance
Competition Time Table
Cost Estimates
Termination of Competition
Appointment of Architect
Exhibition of Entries
Return of Design Drawings
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

PROMOTE
R

BOARD of
ASSESORS

COMPETIT
OR

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

conditions*
26

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION

- formal legal offer of contract, offered by promoter.

- on submission, it is implied competitor accepts this contract.
- includes a final reply to competitor queries.
GENERAL CONDITIONS
FOR PROMOTERS

- competition brief to be prepared and approved by promoter &

board of assessor, respectively. Copy to COA for approval before
publication.
- brief to state the exact use of the winning proposal by promoter
-provision of identical competition brief copies to all competitors.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

*As stated by Council of Architecture

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
27

GENERAL CONDITIONS
FOR PROMOTERS

- competition conditions to identify mandatory & free-to-interprete

requirements.
- conditions also identify the priorities of the promoters w.r.t the
solutions of problem.
- Remittance to promoters to obtain conditions ; to be refunded if
applicant does not compete.
FOR COMPETITORS
- Entry to be accompanied with Declaration of bonafide work by the
competitor.
- Partnership deed also to be attached; in case of collaboration of 2 or
more architects for the projects.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
28

GENERAL CONDITIONS
FOR BOARD OF ASSESSORS

- to award a proposal, final and binding; to be made public on

date stated.; may award to promoters choice at its
discretion.
- not more than 3 designs to be selected of equal merit; final
winning design to be selected for above designs, promoter
may participate in final selection process.
- specific information to be supplied to competitors;
supplementary information to be provided to all competitors.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
29

PRIZE MONEY & HONORARIA

- Total number and prize money amount to be stated;

proportional to size of project, amount of work involved and

expenses incurred at proposal stage.
- To paid by promoter, on approval form the board, within 1
month.
- Honorarium to be given to all participants of limited
competition, also to second stage finalists in 2 stage
competition.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
30

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
31

ANONYMITY
- To be maintained until the final award for maintaining fairness of

competition.
- Measures for preserving Anonymity to be taken.
COPYRIGHT &RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP
- Copyright retained by competitor; also has right to reproduce his

design.
- Only winning design shall be used by promoter for one time
commission; no other design to be used whole/ part.
- Terms for repetitive use of design to be clearly mentioned in
design.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
32

INSURANCE
- Insurance by promoter for damage by fire, flood, natural

calamities.
- Limited to period of competition; amount to be stated in brief.
COMPETITION TIME TABLE
- To clearly state important dates for various stages of

competition- application, query period, despatch of entries,

period of acceptance of entries.
- Time period not to be shortened in any circumstances.
- All changes in dates to be publicly announced.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
33

COST ESTIMATES
- Cost estimate of design to be submitted in area/volume basis.
- Not always a determining factor for selection of winning

design.
TERMINATION OF COMPETITION
- Promoter may be terminated, if no entry is declared as

winning entry
- 2nd,3rd,additional prizes awarded as per board.
- No proposal selected for commission.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
34

APPOINTMENT OF ARCHITECT
- 1st prize winner to compulsorily get selected for commissioning
-

of project.
If not satisfied, winning architect may need to associate with
senior architect. If not possible, design next in order of merit to
be chosen.
If no instruction to architect is given, then payment for
designers services will be done @ 1.00% of estimated cost.
If project proceeds within 12 months, premium to be paid to
author of design.
Payment to selected architect as per norms set by COA, along
with promoters advice.

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

Guidelines for drafting and fulfillment of

competition conditions
35

EXHIBITION OF ENTRIES
- All entries to be displayed for atleast 1 week, open to public

free of charge.
- Promoter to notify competitors, media for exhibition; also to
send COA a signed copy of jury. If needed, photos of slected
designs for publication.
RETURN OF DESIGN DRAWINGS
- All entries to be returned to participants post exhibition,

except for winning design.

- Competition entry materials to be returned to the winner after
6 months or after being appointed as Architect of the project.
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

TO SUM UP:
36

- What are architectural competitions?

- What are the various terminologies used in

architectural competitions?
- What is the process and types of architectural
competitions?
- What are the various conditions that needs to be
fulfilled by all parties for a successful architectural
competition?

ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS

THANK YOU!