In the context of public and private projects, design competitions serve as an instrument for selecting and optimizing design solutions and for commissioning the most important design partners. Without the competition discourse, the transparency it ensures in the awarding process, and its power as an integrating framework for the participation of the respective project stakeholders, innovation and building culture (Baukultur) would not have reached the level and acceptance they have in many places over the past decades. Design competitions are thus an indispensable element of quality assurance in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, engineering, and arts. Nevertheless, this planning and awarding instrument is repeatedly criticized and (rightly) questioned. It is therefore important to apply the methods and qualities of this instrument, which has been developed over more than 150 years, flexibly and precisely in order to continue to use the advantages of competitions. Although much has been written, discussed, and gained from competitions, little is known, even within the profession, about the organizational and formal framework of the preparation and implementation of the procedures - the competition management. The authors of this book are architects in Berlin, founders and/or partners of [phase eins]. Founded in 1998, the company is one of the leading offices in Germany and worldwide for project consulting and competition management in the fields of architecture and urban development and has managed more than 200 design competitions and tender procedures in 22 countries over the past 25 years.

Based on this experience, the book provides a wealth of practical and formal information on all issues related to the organization of design competitions. It also presents 60 illustrated practical examples of successfully conducted competitions for 12 building typologies. These include competitions for the design of the Munich Concert Hall, the Canadian Parliament, an administrative complex for the European Commission in Brussels, the Place Lalla Yeddouna Quarter in Fez, the Museum for the Maidan Revolution in Kyiv, the Vietnamese-German University in Saigon, the Beirut Museum of Art, and the central building at the BMW plant in Leipzig. The experience of the authors is complemented by statements of more than 50 renowned professionals who have formulated their impressions as jury members, participants, or sponsors in the form of short recommendations. With the hope of contributing to high-quality and fair procedures, the book is particularly aimed at (potential) sponsors of competitions, but also at all other parties involved in competitions - participants, jury members, the architectural press, students, and administrations.