- A Comparative Analysis of Design Competitions on large-scale Project    2238 kb by    Zheng, Liang | lz717@hotmail.com    Short Outline By means of systematically examining interactions of different roles, networks and their relations with design qualities, this research thus examines design competitions specifically in relation to both design qualities and urban development. Abstract Design competitions have often been holding together with prominent urban project planning to produce more design solution alternatives with respect to posed design problems. This research rationale is based upon the increasing importance of design competitions and their relations with design qualities. Design competitions play an important role in ensuring design qualities of our built environment. They give the client an opportunity to select from a range of proposed design solutions to the posed design problems and to secure the design qualities. They are promising methods for research and experimentation by their richness of innovative solutions (Adamczyk, 2004). Recently, the importance of design competitions keeps increasing as a consequence of their connections to changing regulations of public procurement in the course of European Union integration. However, even though there are some analyses in the field of design competitions, systematically scientific knowledge and proper comparative studies at international level are rare up to date. Alexander & Witzling (1990) stated that most studies ¨C even those that are more systematic ¨C are ¡®prescriptive¡¯ or ¡®normative¡¯: they tend to draw on anecdotal knowledge and intuitive experience and explicitly aim primarily at the promotion and improvement of competitions. Again, they base their observation on the fact that individuals who derive their data from their own experience. Guidelines and researches of design competition from professional organizations are often based on their own priorities in this field. Malmberg (2005) pointed out the ¡°confusion over the role of the competition itself and how it translates into the built piece of work¡±. However, they are often criticized for having too vague or too rigid format to ensure design quality. Analyses on design competitions are often fragmental and personalized due to their inherent complexity and no clear definition of how design quality can be evaluated. This current situation offers great chance and emphasizes the extreme importance for our research, it is necessary to address systematic knowledge of design competitions regarding their important role in our changed built environment. As Lipstadt (2005) argues, gives rise to a quasi-mystic association of competitions with invention and also with the discovery of some pre- existing genius out there in the community of planners and designers. In order to avoid the complicit and fragmental relationships of design competition researches, we propose to analyze design competitions on a systematically comparative and interactive basis. Equipped with our findings, design competition will not only being considered as tools for ensuring design qualities, but also platforms which reflect our contemporary building context. By means of examining different roles, networks and their relations with design qualities, design competitions can be better understood, analyzed and compared as a platform for real synergies with contemporary built environment and therefore constitute the interplay resources for improving the quality of our built environment. Keywords Design competition,New Milan Fair Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2010: Sustainable City - Developing World   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper