KS IV: Architectural Competitions - State Architecture Policy

6. STATE ARCHITECTURE POLICY

Hnídková: I would like to return to the beginning when you mentioned the state architecture policy? Can you describe what it consists of?

Borák: The state architecture policy is a declarative document that almost everyone in Europe has except for us. It is a declarative document that states that the state places emphasis on architecture and its impact on the functioning of society. The text on the Chamber's website has three basic points:
The first point is educating about the significance of architecture. What is architecture, what relevance does it have for society, what are its practical impacts on society, and this education spans from preschools through elementary, secondary, vocational schools to universities for older adults.
The second point is supporting public procurement. As long as contracts are awarded as they currently are, and no one minds that the law has been violated during their implementation, and no one has ever been punished for public procurement taking place illegally, society will reflect that.
The third point is a summary of supportive initiatives and actions aimed at making the first two possible. This includes architecture centers, architecture museums, grants, awards for local architecture, and all the things that mention the word architecture at the grassroots level in villages and small towns and associate it with something positive.
This document could change the atmosphere and we are counting on it to bring about a fundamental change in public procurements.

Hnídková: It seems to me that this is a fundamental document, but it seems quite illustrative that although I consider myself somewhat involved in architecture, I have no awareness of it at all. I don't know where the fault lies. If it really isn't evidence that significant things are being prepared here, but the public is not informed in any way. That it is posted on the Chamber's website is of course correct, but shouldn't it also be posted somewhere else?

Borák: The question is where. To explain it. The process is such that the group that was tasked with it wrote the text, which was sent to all relevant ministries, as it should ultimately be published as a government resolution. The ministries responded, and we incorporated their feedback into the text. At the same time, we presented the text at several press conferences; I personally spoke about it about three times on the radio and twice on television, and we tried to offer it to all media. Now there exists quite a substantial pile of articles. Nevertheless, it would be good to know more about it, but we don't know how.

Koryčánek: In Austria, it went through the entire process already; there, the beginning was much more complex, and it started within a public discussion about the need for architecture as a cultural endeavor. Representatives of architectural magazines, architectural galleries, architects themselves, and representatives of the chamber met, and based on extensive discussions, the points that should be part of the government declaration were gradually refined. Isn't this one of the means to involve architectural competitions and to expand awareness precisely and clearly among the widest group of people?

Hnídková: I think that this is absolutely analogous to what Professor Masák said, that politicians hold some competition in a rush before elections to dazzle the public, but that is precisely the problem; the public should presumably be engaged and not dazzled.

Kovačević: I think it is completely the opposite. The Chamber of Architects should offer a document that will be interesting to society; however, what you described resembles a document that will be posted somewhere on the website and will interest at most the members of the Chamber and some journalists. We live in a media world, so the Chamber of Architects needs to come up with ways to reach out, to make an appearance in public, and use the document to offer understandable forms. But we still haven't heard what the future of the document will be besides appearing in a few media outlets. Will it lead to the establishment of some architecture center? Will architecture start to be taught in schools? Does it have any concrete impact, or is it just a checkmark so that we can have it as the last country in the EU?

Plos: It is certainly not essential that a document is made and simply checked off. After all, we are not obligated to it, and we don't have to. It's not that EU member states must have a policy; it is their interest. But the problem is the debate with the public, public interest, and what we can do about it. That's why I said at the beginning that I'm not alarmed by cases where scandals occur. Many things started with a scandal to draw public attention because sometimes a fist punch is needed to initiate a debate, but the question is what to bring into the debate afterward and how to use it. Perhaps the Chamber should be more offensive and defend its views in a much sharper manner than it does. The question is whether this is a way to build elites. To what extent can we use cases where architecture is genuinely discussed? On the other hand, is the debate about the National Library truly a debate about architecture? And therein lies the problem. Society is still slowly maturing for a debate about architecture.

Kovačević: There is no debate about architecture. Suddenly architecture appeared 60000 times in all media… and we just sat there with crossed arms and did not participate at all. We, as a profession, do not know how to utilize that potential.

Koryčánek: What could architects themselves do in this rather advantageous situation, disregarding the involvement of the Chamber?

Kovačević: Architects can do the simplest thing - create good buildings. But they must explain their work, they must organize themselves into civic associations and various initiatives that will complement the work of the Chamber. The Chamber is serious. For example, an architectural competition for Ládví is currently being organized, where a group of people organized an architectural competition for a Center for Contemporary Art, which is an excellent example.

Jiran: Professor Šik told us that in Switzerland, the dialogue about architecture began sometime in the early 60s, and today he cannot imagine that in Saturday or any other newspapers there wouldn't be a huge article. Newspapers must write about both cars and architecture. And it is a necessity because society demands it. However, it is not a demonstration of the quality of architecture; it may not necessarily be a debate about architecture. But it is part of it; that is society.

Hnídková: I believe the competition for the National Library was important in that the public recognized one of the new topics for discussion, that architecture exists here, and of course, we can now reflect on what level and about what quality of architecture the discussion takes place, but it is still a shift from the nation of Přemek Podlaha to other topics.

Masák: This requires a certain patience. The media are interested in current affairs. Of course, they are first interested in attractions or conflicts, but otherwise, if it goes in a positive direction, they are interested in current affairs. I have written several articles about the National Library, and only one was published in Hospodářské noviny while the others are just lying around. And there's nothing to be done; we must be patient, and we need to gain partners; personal relationships are important, and we should, or I will keep pushing for something to appear in the daily papers.

Koukol: But we must not make one mistake, which is to tell potential partners, such as municipalities and councils: "Leave it to the experts; they will decide architecture for you; you don't understand it."

Hnídková: All of this corresponds to the growth of public awareness, because if people are faced with a done deal, either by politicians or experts, they will not function in the matter in any direct way.

Koryčánek: How many competitions would be needed per year for us to be able, let's say in ten years, if we are patient enough, to say: the number of competitions is optimal?

Plos: If there were 3 competitions and they were amazing, their effect would be amazing. When there are 1000 and one is worse than the other, it ultimately brings no effect. I don’t think it's necessary to quantify it; what matters is that competitions take place as qualitatively as possible, under good conditions, and that it is possible to positively motivate the organizers of the competitions so that when they are committed, they do it well and that the outcomes are realized. And there could easily be 18 of them.

Borák: I would see the most important thing as understanding what the features of a regular competition are and how a competition is to be prepared among us practicing architects who act in positions as experts and those who advise clients. Because competitions come to the Chamber that are prepared, approved by councils, prepared with the assistance of authorized architects, yet do not comply with the Chamber's competition rules and do not possess the characteristics of a regular competition. And that's where we could start so that every architect, every expert, and every publicist involved with architecture knows six basic points of a regular competition and understands that on the Chamber's website, there are sample competition conditions that only need to be downloaded and used. That would be a significant step toward ensuring that there are enough competitions.

Kovačević: What are those six points if it's that simple?

Borák: An independent jury, correctly set competition conditions, adherence to prescribed deadlines, correct record-keeping, and the sequence of steps that must be followed during the jury's evaluation, publication of results, and monitoring what happens with the outcome. That is completely sufficient.

Jiran: Just to clarify in response to the question of how many competitions are needed. For example, in neighboring Germany, which is six times larger, there have been two or three magazines for 20 years purely dedicated to the results of architectural competitions, and each magazine features 15-20 such competitions monthly.

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> continuation: 7. Competition for the National Library