<Vysoké učení technické> has canceled the irregular competition, the <Česká komora architektů> offers it help in announcing a new one
Publisher Tisková zpráva
22.07.2013 14:35
The Czech Technical University in Brno (VUT) has canceled the competition for the design of the Faculty of Fine Arts building. This follows a letter addressed by VUT's bursar Vladimír Kotek to the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA) on July 12, 2013. The mentioned competition was not in accordance with the ČKA Competition Rules, which guarantee professional quality, hence it was not awarded a legitimacy certificate. Therefore, authorized architects could not enter the competition. According to VUT management, the reason for the competition's cancellation was that a sufficient number of proposals did not arrive. ČKA welcomes this decision and advises VUT's management to announce a new design competition with professionally quality conditions to yield a robust solution and a resolver for the entire project. Concurrently, ČKA again offers VUT consultations in formulating the competition conditions that would comply with the ČKA Competition Rules developed in accordance with the Public Procurement Act.
According to information that ČKA could not verify with the organizer, the competition was submitted to two competitors, one of whom withdrew their application. The competition for the new building of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FaVU) has been repeatedly commented on by ČKA, and repeated suggestions for personal consultations were refused by VUT. Main issues included, for example, the composition of the jury, as it did not include individuals with the same qualifications expected from the competitors. The changing composition of the jury contributed to the lack of credibility of the competition. The jury is, in fact, one of the main guides for architects' participation in a design competition, along with the formulation of the task. Furthermore, it was poorly demonstrable that the anonymity of the proposals would be maintained, as the qualifications of individual competitors were to be checked even before their evaluation, thus revealing the envelopes with their identification. Equal access is, after all, a fundamental principle of the competition. Other conditions could have been perceived as discriminatory (proving two reference buildings of similar scale), and three issues related to copyright protection and the amount of remuneration for work performed or prizes and rewards in the competition. More detailed information can be found in the press release from ČKA dated March 13, 2013. "If someone submits a work they created to a competition, they want assurance that it will be evaluated by a jury composed of people who can assess the quality," said Petr Lešek, Deputy Chair of the Board of ČKA and Chair of the working groups for competitions and for transparent public procurement. He welcomes the cancellation of the competition and offers cooperation in formulating the task for a new design competition on behalf of ČKA to the rector of VUT. "Public buildings are a fundamental element in the creation of the built environment and must set an example. The design competition is, after all, a method proven over centuries to obtain a series of studies for the cost of one study and select the most suitable one along with its author as the designer of the subsequent stages of the project. The beauty and functionality of the building, and thus the meaningful and purposeful expenditure of public funds, should particularly matter to the university, which covers both the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Fine Arts," added Petr Lešek. "In handling public funds, we consider a design competition according to the Public Procurement Act to be the optimal way to find a designer for the building. Its mechanisms allow for the selection of proposals based on quality and price, in an expert and transparent manner," stated ČKA Chairman Josef Panna on the topic. The text of the letter from VUT regarding, among other things, the cancellation of the competition is available on the ČKA website.
The design competition is considered the most suitable tool for selecting the contractor for an artistic or architectural work, in this specific case, the construction project. Its primary advantage is that proposals are selected based on the quality of the competition submission. For the competition to be truly transparent, non-discriminatory, and effective, it must meet the requirements of the Public Procurement Act as well as the ČKA Competition Rules. The Czech Chamber of Architects has a legally defined right and duty in the competition process to monitor the quality of competitions, evaluate competition conditions, and prevent the conduct of irregular competitions. The Chamber's role is to assist competition organizers in achieving a common goal – high-quality architectural production in the Czech Republic.
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