Greek Competition History

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The following text briefly monitors the evolution of the Greek architectural competition history. Furthermore, it focuses on the current legislation and examines the structure and content of the competition law in regard to the subject, the type, the process, the participation and the role of the organizing institutions and the jury. Through a critical review, what we try to do is to answer the question “why are architectural competitions so crucial?”  

The Competition Culture in Greece has a long and tormented history ever since Greece became a Free State back in 1830. However, the complex map of various political, economic and social factors delayed the systematic institutionalization of competitions as the country struggled to find its place on the global map.

The first Greek law that regulated competitions was established only in the beginning of the 1970s by the Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works and was amended a few years later (1971 and 1976). However, the impeding need for public housing and infrastructure in addition to the state’s inability to support these constructions technically and/or financially challenged the limits of the legal framework that ultimately proved inadequate. During the 1980's and 1990's the Greek Architects' Association (SADAS) and the Technical Chamber of Greece organized a series of working groups with the aim of improving and modernizing the competition law, but were unable to convince the Greek Parliament to legislate. That happened only in 2011, years later, with the 1427/2011 Law.

This new framework explicitly states that all public buildings and sites should be subject to competition; eligibility criteria are clearly stated as well as the obligations of the organizing authority to provide participants with sufficient information. In addition, the 2011 Law seeks to ensure that first prize winners will be commissioned to implement the design and building of their project and that all processes will remain unassailable and transparent.

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The evolution of Greek Competition Law: timeline based on Angelica Giannoulatou-Destouni & Michela Dechaves-Poga 2012 Study

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1830    First ever Greek Architectural Competition for a War Monument honoring the dead in Messolonghi

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1936    The Greek Architects' Association (SADAS) begins to propagate the need to create a framework for architectural competitions in Greece

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1970    The year the first law on architectural competitions in Greece was issued by the Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works

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1971-1976

 Amendments were made to clarify the 1970 law. In particular amendments determine:

·The cases when an architectural competition is necessary and the organization/institution responsible for making that decision

·Fundamental rules regarding programming; cancellation; deadline extension, and competition prizes

·Types of architectural competitions based on participation and program.

·Who has the right to participate, about the composition and the role of the committee that prepares the declarations and the programs, the composition and the responsibilities of the jury.

·The content of the declaration, the obligations of the tenderers, the judges’ obligation and the monetary awards.

·The rules for publishing the declaration and the results of the competition and the property rights

 

1977    a new legislation is created (N. 716) to determine the processes with which a participant is chosen for each public project.

 

In 1985 and 1990 the Greek Architects' Association (SADAS) in collaboration with the Technical Chamber of Greece establishes working groups with the aim of improving and modernizing the legislation on architectural competitions. However their efforts fail to lead to a proposal.

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1994    The operating committee of the Municipality of Athens voted that every new    public building must originate/be a product from/of an architectural competition. Driven by this decision, the Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works; the Ministry of Culture; the National Technical University of Athens; the Greek Architects' Association (SADAS) and the Technical Chamber of Greece form working groups and begin to collaborate on setting a framework as was suggested by the Athens Municipality. Their final draft in 1997 was never voted. 

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2003    The Greek Architects' Association (SADAS) continues to demand improvements for the institution and the replacement of the 1976 legislation. Based on the 1997 draft and the regulations set by the Union Internationale     des Architectes (UIA) and Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE), SADAS pushes for a legislation that will specifically ensure the transparency of architectural competitions, in terms of their preparation as well as their institutional shielding by making sure that winning proposals will be   implemented and winning architects will ultimately be commissioned to implement their projects.

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This initiative creates the background with which SADAS supported and developed the 2011 Law entitled “New framework for architectural competitions and design competitions with prizes in general”. The 2011 Law was finally issued by the Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works thirty-five (35) years after the first Ministerial Decision about Architectural Competitions (!). Architectural Competitions are recognized as the basic process with which public architecture is to be produced in Greece. With the 2011 LAW young architects finally have the opportunity to develop their creativity in the interest of the community. In addition, a new equivalent job market which is accessible from everybody besides the established studios and firms is being created.  

 

References

Γιαννουλάτου- Δεστούνη, Αγγέλικα, Ντετσάβες- Πόγκα Μικέλα, Ο ρόλος των Αρχιτεκτονικών Διαγωνισμών στο σχεδιασμό του Δημόσιου Χώρου, Ερευνητική Εργασία ΕΜΠ, Σχολή Αρχιτεκτόνων Μηχανικών, Επιβλέπουσα Ειρήνη Μίχα, 2012, Αθήνα. Retrieved from: https://issuu.com/mistrio/docs/94.14.02