Thematic file

The competition: professional cohesion and individual competitiveness

Text: Nicolae ȚARĂLUNGĂ

In all the variants mentioned in the DEX, the definition of the word COMPETITION contains "a contest, competition between (more than two) persons, which ends with a ranking and the awarding of prizes to the best participants". Another definition refers to "support, help".

With these elements clarified, I can outline the space for discussion. I have not thought of writing about competitions, winners and prizes. The contest is dead, long live the contest - a continuity inscribed in archives that can be consulted, and the results of the research can be recounted in inspiring documents, as they have already been realized.

The competitions organized from ¹⁹³⁶¹ to the present have changed styles, opened the way to other forms of architecture, put names and works on the poster. All have enriched the image of Romania's cities. Relieving myself of the burden of being a chronicler of the results of the competitions, I will develop more the second part of the definition, that of support:

With the help of the UAR, these contests happened!

Competition theme: regardless of the various forms of organization of the guild of architects over time, from its beginnings to the present, it is remarkable that they have always supported the competition event, which made it easy for me to choose the title of this article, Professional Cohesion and Individual Competitiveness.

Also, regardless of the type of architectural competition - solution, ideas for various themes and urban planning (except those organized through public procurement procedure⁾², it is an event of architects who have the opportunity to meet each other, colleagues with various functions and skills acquired in their career, partners, students and teachers and discuss, over and above the prize awarded, their life, their profession, plan other meetings with other themes.

Jury: The role of the jury in the competition is crucial. Seen not so much in terms of the hermeticism of the evaluation grid, but in terms of detachment from the analytical, Cartesian and the openness of each jury member to accept the excitement of seeking to be surprised by the potential of the project being evaluated.

I suspect a jury would be open to evaluating new forms of project expression that cultivate imagination and creativity. Photo realism, 3D visualization in architecture, virtual and augmented reality can contribute, together with other crafts, to the definition of new styles and can bring new forms, new architects and new prizes to the heritage of Romanian architecture.

Award Ceremony: The moment of the award ceremony is remarkable for announcing the outcome of such a complex decision as the designation of the winners. Everyone is excited, the organizer, the jury and each of the participants. Once the name is announced, the magic fades. What remains is the essence that is less immediately appreciated, namely that the announcement of the prizes unveils both the competitive criteria of the profession, proper to an architect, and the level of a profession whose role, being less recognized by society in general and politicians in particular, is struggling in the paradigm of the evolution of Ion Barbu's Joc Secund:

"From the hour deduced the depth of this calm crests,
Entered through the mirror in the saved azure,
Cutting on the drowning of the wild cherry trees,
In groups of water, a secondary, purer game".

NOTES

1. 1936-1937 - The Corps of Architects participates in the organization of public competitions for the projects of the 8 June Square (Unirii), the Bucharest Municipal Palace, the Romanian Pavilion at the International Exhibition Paris 1937, a hotel in Balcic, a church in the Dominions Park, the systemization of the city of Belgrade, the monument of King Ferdinand in Chernivtsi (source: the brochure "About the OAR, in principles, images and ideas).

2. The form of designating a winner through this freedom of expression is 'vitiated' by the content of the specifications or the evaluation grid - which does not leave room for imagination and creativity. It is unexpected, at the level of creativity, to think of awarding prizes for a local urban planning regulation, with eminently legal implications, or, why not, for files for obtaining permits. This is why such forms of competition lead to contested results, some of which have been settled in the Court of Appeal, or to works won but not completed