Upping the ante: the high and low culture of architecture competitions

2016-08-31T12:05:00-04:00

Entering an architecture competition is basically a form of speculative investment. Time is money, and competitions tend to require a lot of both. Models, renders, and prints—not to mention wages—can deplete the coffer quickly, especially for a young practice. A studio will invest their time and money in an entry in the hope that, at a later date, it will generate a return: a commission or some recognition. Unfortunately, competitions tend to be risky investments.

UpStarts: Martha Read Architects

2015-02-20T09:48:00-05:00

Founded in 2012 by former literature student and obituary writer Martha Read, UK-based Martha Read Architects is the distillation of multiple cultural sensitivities, honed over decades of teaching, writing, and working globally.

UpStarts is a series of features on the foundations of contemporary practice. It will have a global reach in which practices from Europe, North America, Asia, and beyond will be asked to address the work behind getting the work, and the effect of cultural contexts. The focus will be on how a practice is initiated and maintained. In many ways, the critical years of a fledgling design partnership is within the initial five years, after the haze and daze of getting it off the ground. UpStarts surveys the first years of practice as a tool for tracking the tactics of the rapidly evolving methods for sustaining a practice.

Archinect - Features

Upping the ante: the high and low culture of architecture competitions

UpStarts: Martha Read Architects