Hi, the following event recently took place in my city. I’m wondering if this event would be considered questionable marketing practice or just a case of sour grapes for those who did not enter the competition.
A local architecture firm recently facilitated a design competition for a small downtown project through their local AIA chapter. Other teams signed up for the competition but a few decided not to submit after rumor’s surfaced that an “obvious winner” had already been assumed.
Word on the street was that the facilitating firm’s principal is a member of the organization sponsoring the competition, serves on their board, personally knows and selected all the jurors. There was no entry fee, and the competition was limited to members of the local AIA chapter only; all entries were to be submitted to the facilitating firm’s representative for jury review.
Entries were reviewed and the results were posted: the facilitating firm was announced as the winner – as previously assumed. “Winner” will be exposed to various local and media events.
Are architects really this desperate to stage an event given the current economy, or is this scenario common practice in the industry? Irresponsible or not, would you take advantage of the situation if you had the resources and connections? Would anyone care?
what is there to think about it? it is despicable.
who is this guy? name of the city?
competition results?
why are you not giving these information?
what are we, suckers for your rant?
When I'm finally in practice for myself, I'm going to set up a bunch of "arms-length" companies and boards, and give my work lots of made-up awards... then make sure to send out lots of press releases.
Hell, I should get on that while I'm still a student....
I think my first act will be to hold a design competition for which I'm the only (and winning) entrant. Not a bad idea. I can use that for publicity, and it'll look good on a CV, too.
i noticed a lot of folks on archinect can vent without really sharing specifics. this post was not meant to piss anyone off. definitely not to make you or anyone feel like a sucker.
i was just wondering if anyone had similar experiences in other locales.
i have friends who got sucked into that competition. it really sucks.
didn't piss me off either. why are you not giving the name? it is a public info right?
look, you either take the bull by the horn or gossip in the back room, that's all.
Were public funds used to stage this competition? If so, I'd say it's a huge ethics problem.
Otherwise, since there was no entry fee, it's just a self-serving way of marketing oneself at the expense of others, I guess. Making others look like losers so you can be a winner. Which is definitely an ethical problem, but of a very different degree.
But what about the money and time that the other firms spent to submit...sounds like there could be ground for fraud...or at least, as a group of scorned professionals black listing the jackass that thought he could get away with this highly unethical conflict of interest....
although i wouldn't put it past a lot of local architects, there is definitely an issue with professional ethics here...
since the AIA membership was a requirement for the competition, I posted below, the link for the AIA ethics and bylaws...(XAIA, maybe you can look into the link below and keep us posted?)
lb - there were no public funds involved. many wondered why they would advertise a competition with no entry fee. some young competitive types entered with the mindset that there was nothing to lose (cash wise), just to be disappointed in the end.
dsal - i hate to admit it, the dude is pretty powerful locally and politically. the old school folks don't really discuss it openly, they just talk about what a piece a'work he is.
part of living in a cosmopolitan hick-city i guess.
I'm sure there was an "enter at your own risk" clause. One does bear responsibility for researching the background of the competitions one enters, right?
Rereading the post though I see it was AIA sponsored, which actually *does* sound an alarm bell. If my membership fees were used to fund a sham competition, I'd be pretty pissed off.
If I fund my own competition, obviously, I can run it however I want. if a non-profit organization like the AIA runs one, there are some pretty strict protocols, I imagine.
So what does the winner get: a commission? By whom? Who stands to benefit from this whole deal? Or was it an awareness raising stunt to draw attention to a specific downtown issue?
simples - you're right, though i've seen this guy in action. will flat out lie to your face with a smile, and people who don't know him believe whatever he says.
he has a lot of enemies, they seem to stay out of his way (like not join a competition he has anything to do with) or fake it when they are with him.
how does someone get so damn influential? he has a lot of friends, too.
Attention, whether it is good attention or bad attention gets people noticed.
If he's a smart fellow, this is more than likely a string of incidents to come. IRL trolls never settle on a single event... that's too easy.
I'd imagine this will go four or five actions deep.
call to action -> competition -> call of attention -> claim to fame -> counter action -> subtle victory.
I'm assuming what he is doing is raising the issue, pushing the issue and then is going to underbid everyone for a project because he holds the bulk of the research.
He'll come out a hero and they naysayers will look just as ridiculous as him.
good point about your charette, a collection of idea's sounds fair for this project though it is not as high profile as the Breuer Library.
the winner will be commissioned and recognized in media outreach, in addition to a gift "package" to multiple venues throughout the city's rising art's district.
the locals will benefit from any aesthetic aspects of whatever is built (a temporary installation). this firm will benefit from the generated publicity, as well as rant around town about another award on their walls.
A staged design competition for suckers only?
Hi, the following event recently took place in my city. I’m wondering if this event would be considered questionable marketing practice or just a case of sour grapes for those who did not enter the competition.
A local architecture firm recently facilitated a design competition for a small downtown project through their local AIA chapter. Other teams signed up for the competition but a few decided not to submit after rumor’s surfaced that an “obvious winner” had already been assumed.
Word on the street was that the facilitating firm’s principal is a member of the organization sponsoring the competition, serves on their board, personally knows and selected all the jurors. There was no entry fee, and the competition was limited to members of the local AIA chapter only; all entries were to be submitted to the facilitating firm’s representative for jury review.
Entries were reviewed and the results were posted: the facilitating firm was announced as the winner – as previously assumed. “Winner” will be exposed to various local and media events.
Are architects really this desperate to stage an event given the current economy, or is this scenario common practice in the industry? Irresponsible or not, would you take advantage of the situation if you had the resources and connections? Would anyone care?
Thoughts?
what is there to think about it? it is despicable.
who is this guy? name of the city?
competition results?
why are you not giving these information?
what are we, suckers for your rant?
When I'm finally in practice for myself, I'm going to set up a bunch of "arms-length" companies and boards, and give my work lots of made-up awards... then make sure to send out lots of press releases.
Hell, I should get on that while I'm still a student....
I think my first act will be to hold a design competition for which I'm the only (and winning) entrant. Not a bad idea. I can use that for publicity, and it'll look good on a CV, too.
mdz -
i noticed a lot of folks on archinect can vent without really sharing specifics. this post was not meant to piss anyone off. definitely not to make you or anyone feel like a sucker.
i was just wondering if anyone had similar experiences in other locales.
i have friends who got sucked into that competition. it really sucks.
dustin,
i like your tactics - i believe you are well on your way to becoming a very successful architect. it seems to work for many others.
didn't piss me off either. why are you not giving the name? it is a public info right?
look, you either take the bull by the horn or gossip in the back room, that's all.
Lol, wtf? 'morality degree zero' is so confrontational...
Were public funds used to stage this competition? If so, I'd say it's a huge ethics problem.
Otherwise, since there was no entry fee, it's just a self-serving way of marketing oneself at the expense of others, I guess. Making others look like losers so you can be a winner. Which is definitely an ethical problem, but of a very different degree.
But what about the money and time that the other firms spent to submit...sounds like there could be ground for fraud...or at least, as a group of scorned professionals black listing the jackass that thought he could get away with this highly unethical conflict of interest....
although i wouldn't put it past a lot of local architects, there is definitely an issue with professional ethics here...
since the AIA membership was a requirement for the competition, I posted below, the link for the AIA ethics and bylaws...(XAIA, maybe you can look into the link below and keep us posted?)
http://www.aia.org/about/ethicsandbylaws/index.htm
lb - there were no public funds involved. many wondered why they would advertise a competition with no entry fee. some young competitive types entered with the mindset that there was nothing to lose (cash wise), just to be disappointed in the end.
dsal - i hate to admit it, the dude is pretty powerful locally and politically. the old school folks don't really discuss it openly, they just talk about what a piece a'work he is.
part of living in a cosmopolitan hick-city i guess.
I'm sure there was an "enter at your own risk" clause. One does bear responsibility for researching the background of the competitions one enters, right?
Rereading the post though I see it was AIA sponsored, which actually *does* sound an alarm bell. If my membership fees were used to fund a sham competition, I'd be pretty pissed off.
If I fund my own competition, obviously, I can run it however I want. if a non-profit organization like the AIA runs one, there are some pretty strict protocols, I imagine.
So what does the winner get: a commission? By whom? Who stands to benefit from this whole deal? Or was it an awareness raising stunt to draw attention to a specific downtown issue?
Simultaneous posting, xaia!
When we did the Breuer Library charette, it was clear that it was not a competition but a collection of design ideas. There was no winner.
This sounds like it maybe should have been structured similarly? Again, is there the promise of a commission at the end of this competition?
simples - you're right, though i've seen this guy in action. will flat out lie to your face with a smile, and people who don't know him believe whatever he says.
he has a lot of enemies, they seem to stay out of his way (like not join a competition he has anything to do with) or fake it when they are with him.
how does someone get so damn influential? he has a lot of friends, too.
it's the world we live in.
Ohhh, an IRL troll. Interesting bunch.
Attention, whether it is good attention or bad attention gets people noticed.
If he's a smart fellow, this is more than likely a string of incidents to come. IRL trolls never settle on a single event... that's too easy.
I'd imagine this will go four or five actions deep.
call to action -> competition -> call of attention -> claim to fame -> counter action -> subtle victory.
I'm assuming what he is doing is raising the issue, pushing the issue and then is going to underbid everyone for a project because he holds the bulk of the research.
He'll come out a hero and they naysayers will look just as ridiculous as him.
lb -
good point about your charette, a collection of idea's sounds fair for this project though it is not as high profile as the Breuer Library.
the winner will be commissioned and recognized in media outreach, in addition to a gift "package" to multiple venues throughout the city's rising art's district.
the locals will benefit from any aesthetic aspects of whatever is built (a temporary installation). this firm will benefit from the generated publicity, as well as rant around town about another award on their walls.
it's a done deal.
oro...the last thing i want is to make it sound like a "rant" for this asshole.
there was no clause stating "Enter at your own risk, etc."
Moral of story:
"...DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE JOINING ANY COMPETITION!"
thank you very much liberty bell and all.
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