San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-06-03
ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION
Some of the Reasons Why 1t Does
Not Bring Forward the Best
Architects,

In discussing the recent act of
Congress providing for architec-
tural competitions when designs
are required for new public build
ing, Mr.. John NJ. Carrere, leading
New York architect, expresses
some views on such competitions
in general, which will prove of in
| tereSt:
Architectural competitions, in
the judgment of most architects,
are snare and delusion. The
principle of bringing men into
rivalry in the solution of the same
problem with the hope of producing
the best possible work seems to be
a correct one, but even disre-
| garding all other practical reasons,
it fails to produce the desired
results, because of the manner
of presenting the solution
namely, by drawings-it is i'm
possible, no matter how fully
the drawings illustrate the idea, to
give complete conception of the
work as it will appear. This
| would be true, even if the judges
| who select this work were always
as able as those who are Compel
ing and there is no doubt that in
architecture, as in all other liberal
| arts and professions, the best re-
suits are generally obtained by Sc
Letting a man ON his record, select
/ ing him for what he has actually
accomplished, and intrusting the
work to him without competition.
"A competition may result in
bringing out hidden talent, and
give new men opportunities which
they would not otherwise secure,
but the older men who have their
legitimate work to attend to, which
cannot be neglected, cannot be
drawn into competitions for the
mere sake of a chance to increase
their practice, perhaps at the risk
of unfair treatment, of prejudiced
decisions, and of unreasonable de-
mands upon their time; so that it
is very seldom that the best men
will consent to enter into cOmpeti-
tiOns, and the object of the same is
thereby Immediately defeated.
The system of paid competitions,
which has been lately adopted
where limited number of men
are selected, and offered a nominal
sum to present drawings, it being
sometimes understood that all
other architects can seSd in draw
ingS without such remuneratiOn,)
also fails to meet with the approx
al Of the leading architects, for it
is really gamble, speculation,
and therefore the system does not
fully overcome the difficulty.
1t is natural, as long as archi-
tectS are expected to furnish for
$500 virtually preliminary draw
ing for work entailing very often
an expenditure of $l,O0O,OOO for
which it is agreed the world over
that architects shall charge | per
cent, or $4,000 that the best men,
the busy men, will not consent to
compete, though the layman is
only too anxious to have a compel
itiOn on these terms.
If competitions are ever to be a
success, they should, in the first
place, in the writer's opinion, be
made such as to commend them
selves to the attention of the entire
profession. The men with estab-
lished regulations will not look
upon competitions faVOrably, and
will not take part in them regu-
larly, until regular schedule has
been established, making uniform
charges for competition drawings,
in the same manner as for other
professional services. Such sched-
ule, with all allowance for the
privilege offered to compete, will
place the architects services on a
business basis,-which is the only
possible one. 1t will reduce the
number of competitions and of the
competitors, in each cOmpetitiOn,-
combining them to the most impOr-
tant buildings,-and elevate the
standard of the work. These will
be the only terms upon which the
leading men will always be willing
to enter competition for building
other than public buildings.
In the matter of public buildings
it is somewhat different, from the
fact that the character of the build
ing is one which not only promises
renown and honor, resulting from
possible success, but which gives
the true architect the only oppor-
tunity for studying and designing
monumental art; and for the sake
of this opportunity, if the competi-
4 tinn is nr0nprlN CON dnctnd the