Holding Łódź and the city authorities are calling on all architects to take part in a competition to design a new building for Orientarium Łódź, promising "world fame" and... not very high prizes. Representatives of Lodz's architectural community have serious doubts about how the guidelines in the competition for the concept of the Elements Pavilion were constructed. Will the organizers take the recommendations into account?
120 million - that's the cost of Lodz's latest announced investment. The city has launched a competition to design the Pavilion of Elements, which will become part of the Orientarium complex at the Lodz Zoo, located on the side of Konstantynowska Street. The plans are impressive - five zones will be made available to visitors to imitate different habitats. Thus, the Pavilion of Elements will include sections such as Hidden Earth and Life in the Depths, Land of Water and Fire, Land of Ice and Penguins, Air and Crown of Trees , and Zone of the Future - Capybara. The pavilion is expected to be home to wombats, elephant tortoises and cheetahs, small primates, among others. There will also be a green roof overlooking the enclosures and an evolution museum located in the "underground" section. For residents and visitors, the news of the new competition may be exciting. For architects - not necessarily.
The zoo in Lodz
Photo: Kapitel © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Pavilion of the Elements in Lodz
The competition for the Pavilion of Elements at the Lodz Orientarium is a one-stage study competition, where the task is to develop a concept for a new building to stand nearby. The total prize pool is 120 thousand zlotys, with half of this amount awarded for winning first place. However, the winners of the competition will not "automatically" develop design documentation. Once the results are announced, they will only be invited to develop a functional-utility plan, which includes basic information on "technical, functional, utility and material requirements," and by many definitions is only a description for a design-and-build contract. What the final architecture will look like in reality will be decided not by the results of the competition, but by the later stages of the building's design - that is, the detailed design and construction project, the authors of which may already be quite different.
lodz architects ask about the competition
This way of structuring the terms of the competition for the Pavilion of the Elements in Lodz raises doubts in the Lodz architectural community.
For an author's concept for a prestigious, as it is assumed, investment, the author can count on a maximum of 480 thousand zlotys (which includes the prize and the cost of preparing the PFU). With the estimated cost of the entire investment at 120 million zlotys, this amount is only 0.4% of its value.The key problem, however, is that the competition does not guarantee the author of the winning work participation in the further implementation of the project - the chance for this is almost negligible.This raises fundamental questions: Do the organizers consider these conditions fair? Is such a format able to attract reputable architectural firms?
- asks in a comment on the announcement of the competition Przemyslaw Kol odziej of Kolodziej Architekci studio.
competition "against architects"
The Association of Polish Architects Lodz Branch also takes a clear stance on the terms of the competition. Architects representing the Lodz community, have a lot of reservations about the way Holding Lodz, a merger of several companies (Aquapark Fala, Orientarium ZOO Lodz, EXPO trade fair hall and MAKiS, which manages Atlas Arena and the stadiums of Widzew and ŁKS), decided to construct the terms of the competition proceedings. Representatives of SARP Branch Łódź point out, among other things, the poor ratio of the scope of the study to the amount of the prize pool for selected works, their anonymization or the lack of SARP representatives in the composition of the competition jury. There is also the prospect of a conflict over copyrights to the final completed building:
It can be said that the way this competition was organized is directed against Polish architects. It is characterized by a lack of professionalism, but it also creates potential problems related to violations of copyright rules and the Public Procurement Law. In the case of such procedures, there is an obligation to announce a competition. The formula that was chosen in the case of the Pavilion of the Elements de facto circumvents this obligation, allowing the low cost of producing the design documentation and passing it on to the contractor, who will pay the architects 2 percent of the value of the investment. Such a situation also creates a conflict between the author of the concept, the winner of the competition, and the person who will perform the construction project based on it. I believe that according to the Public Procurement Law, the winner of the competition cannot participate in the tender procedure for the construction project, because he is acting from a preferential position - he is the author.
- says Jakub Krzysztofik, president of SARP Branch Łódź.
Zoo in Lodz
Photo: Arewicz © CC 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
advertisements in the age of artificial intelligence
In the case of the new competition in Lodz, the communication itself is also questionable in the environment. As Jakub Krzysztofik stressed in an interview with A&B, the way the competition was announced is not conducive to the image of the city. Adam Pustelnik, Deputy Mayor of the City of Lodz, announcing the launch of the competition for the concept and PFU, posted an entry on LinedIn. The entry regarding the criticized competition, in which the winners are due only 60 thousand zlotys, was commented on by various city profiles, tagging not only Lodz studios, but also the world's most recognizable design offices, including Bjarke Ingels Group, Zaha Hadid Architects and Foster + Partners.
Interestingly, despite the fact that the rules of the competition clearly indicate that the use of Artificial Intelligence is not allowed during concept development, some of the visual materials included in the announcement on LinkedIn look as if they were just generated using AI tools.
cheaper, to be creative
Holding Lodz defends the principles on which the competition is conducted, pointing to the lower cost and creative nature of the chosen one-stage formula:
It will allow the analysis of various development alternatives and the determination of optimal assumptions for further design work. The study nature of the competition encourages a creative approach and the presentation of new architectural ideas. The one-stage form ensures organizational efficiency and rationalization of the costs of the proceedings. The results of the competition will serve as the basis for negotiating a sole-source contract with the author of the selected work
-claimed Krzysztof Maciaszczyk, vice president of Holding Łódź, in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza in Łódź.
Lodz doesn't want cooperation with SARP?
There have not been many architectural competitions in Lodz in recent years. As of 2019, the city has held a few conceptual competitions, including an architectural and urban planning competition for the "New City Hall in Łódź" (the selected work has not been realized so far) or the "Green Market" (the realization has also not happened so far). There are also "Urban Spaces" study competitions. The competition juries of none of them include people connected with the Lodz branch of the Association of Polish Architects.
If the ordering party feels adequately competent, it always has the right to organize the competition on its own. Despite this, our community was not consulted, the office of the City Architect or the Chamber of Architects of Poland were not included in the process. The city turns its back on us all the time, unwilling to undertake any cooperation. As SARP, together with the Government, local governments and the Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland, we have also developed a set of recommendations entitled Competition po Nowemu, which is available on the Public Procurement Platform, which other procurers are eager to use.
- says Jakub Krzysztofik, president of SARP Branch Łódź.
On the website of SARP Branch Lodz, you can find the content of the Association's comprehensive position statement, authored by Mateusz Cyganek, a member of the board. Among the SARP's recommendations is a reworking of the competition's rules and regulations, taking into account the introduction of a two-stage formula, an increase in the pool of prizes and a clarification of the steps that will follow the outcome of the competition for the Pavilion of Elements in Lodz. Will the contracting authority and the organizers of the competition take into account the Association's announcement and the critical voices coming from the architectural community?
