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ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS, PROMOTION OF EXCELLENCE AND CRITICISM OF OUR INSTITUTIONS: THE ROLE OF THE RAIC THROUGHOUT HISTORY

  How can we simultaneously promote quality in architecture, represent the interests of Canadian architects, and criticize our democratic institutions, especially when a federal government chooses to overturn a competition jury’s decision in favor of a public vote? This research essay examines the historical role of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) in addressing … Read more

Jean-Pierre Chupin denounces the confusion between online surveys and project competitions in an open letter relayed by La Presse, TVA and Kollectif

"Survey versus Competition: Simulacrum and Democracy" - Open letter co-signed by Jean-Pierre Chupin and Jacques White about the cancellation of the competition for the National Memorial to Canada's Mission in Afghanistan. When it comes to judging art or architecture projects, an online survey is a "mockery of democracy" that can't replace either a design competition ... Read more

SURVEY VERSUS COMPETITION: SIMULACRUM AND DEMOCRACY

  About the cancellation of the competition for the memorial to Canada’s mission in Afghanistan Survey versus Competition: Simulacrum and Democracy September 11, 2023   Jean-Pierre Chupin, Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence, Université de Montréal (www.crc.umontreal.ca ) Jacques White, architect, retired professor at Université Laval, trainer and professional advisor for … Read more

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN QUEBEC IN 1964: SAMPLE PLANS FOR INDUSTRIALIZATION

"Concours pour écoles primaires, Québec, 1964". Top image, project by Rosen, Caruso, Vecsei, bottom image project by Melvin Charney (see Canadian Competitions Catalogue) Organized by the government of Quebec, the "provincial architecture competition for elementary school" was launched in the midst of the "quiet revolution", under the watchful eye of the religious authorities hitherto in ... Read more

WHEN THE “TOP OF THE ROCK” RECEIVES AN AWARD: EXCELLENCE IN ALTERING THE VIEW

Rockefeller Center Vintage Travel Brochure (2018) “The city architect can no more afford to neglect the roofs that continually spread out below him than the country architect can afford to neglect the planting about a house.”(1) There are only three observation decks on the top of skyscrapers in New York—in chronological order, the Empire State ... Read more

WHO ARE THE CLIENTS IN AN ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION PROCESS?

Jury of the Beaubourg Plateau competition, 1971. From left to right: Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Francis, Jean Prouvé, Emile Aillaud, Philip Johnson, and Willem Sandberg A favourite argument of the fiercest opponents of architectural competitions rests on the importance of the listening relationship, even connivance, between the architects and their clients. The competitions would have the ... Read more

UNDERSTANDING “MEDIATIONS OF EXCELLENCE”

"Sisyphus" by Tiziano Vecellio 1548-1549 Madrid. Museo del Prado. In a series of scientific posts inaugurating the Canada Research Chair in Architecture, Competitions and Mediations of Excellence (CRC-ACME) program, we will briefly present — whether in a thousand words or a simple image and its legend — the main terms of our research activities for ... Read more