Competing in Architecture: The Complexity Dilemma

Abstract

Architectural competitions are accepted internationally as a way to choose an architect or an architectural design or develop ideas for challenging issues. This paper explores untapped potential for competitions to be part of a research process in the same way that crowd sourcing can help escalate knowledge. Over the last three years, a multidisciplinary team has explored a research methodology that included an Ideas Competition at its heart. Competitions are typically conceived as a one-way knowledge transfer process with competitors addressing the needs of a client. In contrast, a key aspect of our strategy was to use the competition brief as an educative tool aimed at shifting knowledge w..