Jean-Pierre Chupin signe, avec Stanley Collyer, rédacteur en chef de la revue Competitions, un éditorial qui soulève la dérive internationale relativement à la fermeture des concours aux jeunes bureaux d’architectes.

Il s’agit bien d’un manque flagrant d’équité, voire d’injustice sociale, comme le font remarquer les architectes allemands qui intentent actuellement un recours légal au niveau de la concurrence européenne sur cette importante question.

Dans la mesure où TOUS les architectes professionnels ont reçu une formation professionnelle, validée par des Ordres professionnels ou des organismes d’accréditation très stricts, il est anormal d’ajouter une procédure prétendant « protéger » le public d’un hypothétique manque de professionnalisme. À ce compte, des édifices remarquables tels que le Centre Pompidou, le Parc de la Villette ou le célèbre mémorial des vétérans de la guerre du Vietnam n’auraient jamais été réalisés.

Toutes les procédures visant à compliquer la participation des bureaux ne disposant pas (encore) d’un cahier de réalisations dites « comparables » sont clairement discriminatoires et n’ont d’autre but que de resserrer la concurrence sur quelques bureaux en situation avantageuse.

Éditorial

« In North America, there is a perception that participation in most substantial and medium-sized projects, which occasionally happen to be the subject of competitions, is limited to a restricted number of high-profile firms. But we are not the only ones complaining about the lack of access by smaller firms to this phenomenon. In Germany, architects recently hired a lawyer to put forth arguments to the EU for the inclusion of everyone in the competition process. They maintain that the requirements for even gaining access to a competition short list is well beyond what most firms can offer.

Among the present requirements for being recognized as a short-list candidate in 86% of the German competitions are:

As references:

• Have experience in projects indicating qualifications for such a project;
• Having done something similar;
• Having success in a design competition;
• Having completed a similar well-received project;

and

• Have a minimum number of architects employed in the firm (normally 10, in some cases 5);
• Have a minimum yearly income for the firm (normally 3M Euros)

The requirements small German firms find themselves confronted with would seem insurmountable. To start with,

• 41% of all German firms are an office with one (1) architect;
• 44% of firms have only up to four (4) members, including the principal;
• 11% of firms are offices of up to nine (9) members including the principal;
• Only 4% of firms have 10+ employees, including the principal(s)

The distribution of competition types as planning competitions in Germany:

• In 2013 there were 425 planning competitions
• Of those, only 35 (8.2%) were completely open to any architect;
• This represented a reduction in open competitions from the years 2012 (9.8%) and 2011 (10.8%).

This was in contrast to Switzerland, where 37% of all planning competitions were open.

Whether or not German politicians take notice of this and decide to open up the competition process to all architects is up in the air. They can do so without the imprimatur of the EU. According to a German architect familiar with this effort, and a long-time supporter of open competitions, he believes the chances are 50/50. It is supported by the Chamber of the Bund der Deutschen Architekten; but will that be enough?

Although this document is addressed to the EU and the German parliament, it could equally pertain to the condition of architectural competitions in the United States, as well as the Canadian provinces. The architectural associations in both countries should address this problem, and an initiative by the U.S. Government, through the GSA, could do much to remedy the situation—providing young architects a better opportunity to compete against their peers.»

G. Stanley Collyer, Ph.D, Hon. AIA, Editor
COMPETITIONS

Jean-Pierre Chupin, M.A., Ph.D
Chaire de recherche sur les concours et les pratiques contemporaines en architecture
Université de Montréal