Chapter 14Competitive Strain Syndrome
In the introduction to one of the few books that addresses the contemporary architectural competition, the authors write: ‘Every competition remains a world of possibilities: an intermediary space–time locus for the search for excellence in architecture. In some ways, competition projects function like utopias.’1 This essay examines the claim that competitions represent a form of utopia. It argues that, while at face value they present an image of creative experiment and formal freedom, they do so on the back of an apparatus that can be read as deeply exploitative. Competitions are heralded as delivering architectural advances, but these so-called innovations mask an unattractive underlying ...
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