In competition : how to participate in a competition and what to learn from it

Abstract: The subject of this thesis is my participation in the Schinkel competition, an ideas competition organised by the Architecture and Engineering Association of Berlin (AIV Berlin) and directed towards young architects, landscape architects, planners and engineers. The planning subject of this years competition is the Berlin district Lichtenberg and in particular a site along the river Spree currently shaped by industrial uses and fallow land. Today a place defined by inaccessibility but equipped with the potential to become a vibrant, urban part of Berlin’s cityscape. I submitted a proposal to the landscape architectural competition assignment dealing with the creation of accessibility to the green and blue open spaces and the transformation of these spaces to allow mixed usability for the public, the existing industries of the site, the future inhabitants and people who work in the area or are visiting. The design work is the biggest part of this thesis. In a concluding reflective discussion I investigate how participating in the competition affects myself and how the competition affects the discipline of landscape architecture and society as a whole. The first questions reflects on my design process and investigates what I have learned from the competition. For the second question I consider how competitions promote design knowledge production by generating contrastable ideas and a basis for discussing current planning issues.