WIN COMPETITIONS

Some examples of famous buildings which have been designed in this manner are shown below:

The competition received 233 entries. The design for the opera house as we know it was submitted by Jørn Utzon, a Danish architect, in 1955. The construction began in 1959 under Utzon's supervision. It was eventually completed in 1973, having been built in 3 separate phases.

'Memory Foundations' is the name given by architect Daniel Libeskind to his design for the site of the World Trade Centre in Lower Manhattan, New York. The site will consist of a number of public buildings, the centrepiece being the 'Freedom Tower', designed by architect David Childs.

Daniel Libeskind was chosen to masterplan the scheme from designs by seven different architects, however the selection process did not begin as a competition. The brief clearly stated "This is not a design competition and will not result in the selection of a final plan." However, it soon evolved into a full-blown competition as a result of "the prestige of the architects involved and what they did in exhibiting their plans."

In December, the agency unveiled nine plans from seven groups of architects at the World Financial Center's Winter Garden. At first the public seemed to favour Norman Foster's 'kissing towers'. However, officials decided the only feasible schemes were Libeskind's 'Memory Foundations', 'World Cultural Center' by the Think team, and a design by Peterson/Littenberg Architecture and Design.

The competition was quickly whittled down to just Libeskind and Think. When the two teams made their pitches to the judges who would choose the winner, Think Team focused almost entirely on the engineering of its towers. Libeskind, however, presented an inspiring monologue expressing his scheme as the embodiment of America's hopes and dreams.

Although The Think design was favoured by the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, it was decided that the design was impractical based largely on cost, the estimated price being $800 million, compared to $330 million for Libeskind's masterplan. Thus in February 2003, Libeskind became the winner of the commission to redevelop the site.