From what I’ve seen and heard, it’s not easy to get architecture commissions in the current economy without being a sell-out or an over-competitor. The company I am working for has entered, and been denied, at least five architecture competitions RFPs since I have started working with them. This is pretty dejecting for me as an intern because I have been working primarily on architectural competition submissions and dejecting for the firm as wells since we are heavily reliant on competition entries for commissions.
The most recent competition we entered, a project intended as disaster-relief earthquake recovery housing for citizens of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, involves the design of a series of low-cost housing units. My boss was so eager to win this competition that he asked me to design a website to promote awareness and provide publicity for our design.
Check these two websites for a better idea of what our design will feature –
Haitisofthouse.com
Haitigreenhome.org
When it comes to being selective about design proposals and competitions, I think of this quote by Philip Johnson, who offers a humorous view of the architectural profession:
“Architects are pretty much high-class whores. We can turn down projects the way they can turn down some clients, but we've both got to say yes to someone if we want to stay in business.”
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