List of architectural design competitions

This is a list of notable architectural design competitions worldwide.

Major architecture competitions by country

Australia

• Flinders Street station, Melbourne – Fawcett and Ashworth, 1899 (17 entries)
• Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne – Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop, 1923 (83 entries; open to Australian and British architects only)
• Shrine of Remembrance, Brisbane – Buchanan and Cowper, 1928
• ANZAC War Memorial, Sydney – Charles Bruce Dellit, 1929 (117 entries)
• Opera House, Sydney – Jørn Utzon, 1955 (233 entries)
• Parliament House, Canberra – Romaldo Giurgola, 1978 (329 entries)
• Federation Square, Melbourne – Lab Architecture Studio, 1997 (177 entries)
• Flinders Street station renewal, Melbourne – Hassell + Herzog & de Meuron, 2013 (118 entries)

Austria

• Vienna Ring Road – Ludwig Förster – Friedrich August von Stache – Eduard van der Nüll and August Sicard von Sicardsburg, 1858 (85 international participants)
• Vienna State Opera – August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, 1860
• Karlskirche, Vienna – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, 1713
• Votivkirche, Vienna – Heinrich Ferstel, 1854 (75 international participants)
• Austrian Postal Savings Bank, Vienna, 1903
• City Hall, Innsbruck – Dominique Perrault, 1994

Brazil

• City of Brasília – Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa, 1957 (47 final submissions). The goal was to build a new capital in 1000 days.

Canada

Between 1960 and 2000, close to 150 competitions had been held in Canada.

• City Hall, Toronto – Viljo Revell, 1956 (500 entries)
• University of Manitoba – Visionary (re)Generation, Winnipeg – Janet Roseberg & Studio Inc. with Cibinel Architects Ltd. and Landmark Planning & Design Inc., 2013 (45 international participants)

China

• Beijing National Stadium – Herzog & de Meuron, 2001 (13 final submissions).
• China Central Television Headquarters – Office for Metropolitan Architecture, 2002 (10 submissions)
• Beijing National Aquatics Center – PTW Architects and Arup, 2003 (10 proposals)

Denmark

• Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen – Schmidt Hammer Lassen, 1993 (179 entries)
• Geo Centre Møns Klint, Møn Island – PLH Architects, 2002 (292 entries)

Egypt

• Bibliotheca Alexandrina – Snøhetta, 1998 (523 entries)

Finland

Over the past 130 years, almost 2,000 architectural competitions have been held in Finland.

• Central railway station, Helsinki – Eliel Saarinen, 1904 (21 entries)
• Viipuri Library – Alvar Aalto, 1927
• Paimio Sanatorium – Alvar Aalto, 1929
• Säynätsalo Town Hall – Alvar Aalto, 1949
• Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum, Helsinki – Steven Holl, 1992 (516 entries)
• Guggenheim Helsinki Plan – 2014 (1,715 entries)

France

• Opera Garnier, Paris – Charles Garnier, 1861 (171 participants)
• Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris – Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, 1971 (681 entries)
• Arab World Institute, Paris – Jean Nouvel, 1981
• Parc de la Villette, Paris – Bernard Tschumi, 1982 (471 entries)
• La Grande Arche de la Défense, Paris – Johann Otto von Spreckelsen, 1982 (420 entries)
• Cité de la Musique, Paris – Christian de Portzamparc, 1983
• Opéra Bastille, Paris – Carlos Ott, 1983 (750 entries)
• Carré d'Art, Nîmes – Norman Foster, 1984 (12 invited architects)
• Opéra National de Lyon, Lyon – Jean Nouvel, 1986

Germany

Competition entry by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the House for an Art Lover 1901.

• Reichstag, Berlin, 1872 and 1882 (189 entries by German architects)
• Central Station, Hamburg – Heinrich Reinhardt, 1900
• House for an Art Lover, Darmstadt, 1901
• Berliner Philharmonie, Berlin – Hans Scharoun, 1956–57 (14 invited architects)
• Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart – James Stirling, 1977
• International Building Exhibition, Berlin – various architects for several projects, 1980–1987
• Messeturm, Frankfurt am Main – Helmut Jahn, 1985
• Jewish Museum, Berlin Daniel Libeskind, 1989
• Commerzbank Tower, Frankfurt am Main – Norman Foster, 1991
• Reichstag building, Berlin – Norman Foster, 1992
• Central Station, Berlin – Gerkan, Marg and Partners, 1992
• Olympic velodrome and swimming pool, Berin – Dominique Perrault, 1992
• Felix Nussbaum Museum, Osnabrück – Daniel Libeskind, 1995
• French Embassy, Berlin – Christian de Portzamparc, 1997 (7 invited architects)
• Phaeno Science Center, Wolfsburg – Zaha Hadid, 2000
• BMW Welt, Munich – COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, 2001
• BMW Werk, Leipzig – Zaha Hadid, 2002

Ireland

• U2 Tower, Dublin, 2002 (not yet built)

Italy

• Termini railway station, Rome, 1947

Japan

• Memorial Cathedral for World Peace, Hiroshima, 1947 (177 designs, no winner)
• Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima – Kenzo Tange, 1949
• New National Theatre, Tokyo – Takahiro Yanagisawa, 1984
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo – Kenzo Tange, 1985–1986
• Kansai International Airport – Renzo Piano, 1988
• Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo – Rafael Viñoly, 1987 (395 entries)

Lithuania

• Vilnius Guggenheim Hermitage Museum – Zaha Hadid – scheduled for completion in 2011

Luxembourg

• Philharmonie Luxembourg – Christian de Portzamparc, 1997

Mexico

• Guggenheim Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco – Enrique Norten/TEN Arquitectos

Netherlands

Hendrik Petrus Berlage and Theodorus Sanders: Competition design for a commodity exchange, Amsterdam

• Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam – Pierre Cuypers, 1863 and 1875
• Beurs, Amsterdam – Hendrik Petrus Berlage, 1884
• Peace Palace, The Hague – Louis M. Cordonnier, 1905
• Amsterdam City Hall – Wilhelm Holzbauer, Cees Dam, B. Bijvoet and G.H.M. Holt, 1967 (804 entries)
• The Hague City Hall – Richard Meier, 1986–1989
• Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam – Jo Coenen, 1988 (6 submissions)

New Caledonia

• Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Nouméa – Renzo Piano, 1991

Norway

• Oslo Central Station, Oslo – John Engh

Russia

• Palace of Soviets, Moscow – Boris Iofan, 1931–1933, 160 architectural design entries (never built)
• Commisariat for Heavy Industry, Moscow, 1934

Spain

• Igualada Cemetery, Barcelona – Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós

Sweden

• City Hall, Stockholm, 1907

Switzerland

• Palace of Nations, Geneva, 1926, Henri Paul Nénot & Julien Flegenheimer; Carlo Broggi; Camille Lefèvre; Giuseppe Vago (377 entries)

United Kingdom

See also: RIBA Competitions

• Crystal Palace, London – Joseph Paxton
• Houses of Parliament, London – Charles Barry, 1836 (98 proposals)
• Royal Courts of Justice, London – George Edmund Street, 1868 (11 competing architects)
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow – John William Simpson and E J Milner Allen, 1891 (19 competing architects)
• Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool – Giles Gilbert Scott, 1902 (5 prequalified architects)
• McLeod Centre, Iona for the Iona Community – Feilden Clegg Bradley
• Manchester Art Gallery – Hopkins Architects, 1994 (132 entries)
• Scottish Parliament building, Edinburgh – Enric Miralles, 1998 (5 prequalified architects)
• National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff – Richard Rogers, 1998 (55 entries)

United States

• White House, Washington DC – James Hoban, 1792 (9 entries)
• 33 Liberty Street, New York – York and Sawyer, 1919
• Tribune Tower, Chicago – John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, 1922 (260 entries)
• Boston City Hall, Boston – Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles, 1962 (national, 256 entries)
• McCormick Tribune Campus Center, Chicago – Rem Koolhaas, 1998
• New York World Trade Center
  • 2002 World Trade Center Master Design Contest – Daniel Libeskind (concept)
    • World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition – Michael Arad and Peter Walker
• Visual and Performing Arts Library, Brooklyn, NY – Enrique Norten / TEN Arquitectos

Sources

• De Jong, Cees and Mattie, Erik: Architectural Competitions 1792–1949, Taschen, 1997, ISBN 3-8228-8599-1
• De Jong, Cees and Mattie, Erik: Architectural Competitions 1950-Today, Taschen, 1997, ISBN 3-8228-8900-8

External links

• Visionary (re)Generation – Envisioning a Sustainable Campus Community in Winnipeg, Manitoba