(article previously published in June 2016)
When an architect enters an architectural competition, a process is activated that has nothing to do with the development of a project.
The technical development of the project is a more automatic process.
“Participating in a contest is something that comes more from the gut.”
It is comparable to the birth of a child with its growth and development. Something like that happens in competitions. Even if you’ve been presenting for a long time, you always get those butterflies in your stomach. You feel them when you start and look for the brilliant solution, but also when you finish the panels and present the work in the last minutes of the last day.
It is the result of a very intimate process that seeks success. You must take care of all aspects of it, and one of the main ones is the images of the project.
These are, for me, the five aspects that you have to take care of when preparing the images of your proposal:
1 | What it feels like to participate in a contest (and why everything changes)
Although the tendency is for the style, the architect’s personal brand, to disappear, I think it is something that must continue to be vindicated. Your proposal is part of you and that has to be noticed.
If you haven’t found your own style, do some research, try it out, find it. It is a task that can take years and, in many cases, is not achieved.
But please don’t resort to outdated stereotypes. People are tired of seeing veiled images of buildings with out-of-scale black and white photos of people.
Your images are like your style of dressing. If you want you can make all your clothes black and go out in the street with an interesting face thinking: “people realize that I am an architect”. If you want to present this kind of images and feel comfortable in front of other colleagues. for thinking you’re on the ball. But, sorry, you’re not. .
Apart from those who are looking for this style, there are also those who, due to technical limitations, cannot opt for another one. I do this because it’s a good result and I don’t know how to do anything better.
There are two ways out of this situation:
Learn or hire the one who knows.
Both are valid. Good visualization companies capture what you are looking for and know how to do it.
As you strengthen this collaborative relationship, everything will become more agile and your imagination will be set free.
Learning requires more time and resources. Only you will know which one is best suited to your situation.
Moreover, this style can vary depending on the contest and even the composition of the jury.
2 | The importance of images in a competitive and emotional process
This is the crux of your presentation.
Remember that there will be many proposals in addition to yours.
You must emphasize the differences, those aspects of the project that seem fundamental to make your proposal unique.
Many times it is done the other way around. It is a common mistake. You want to explain all aspects of the project with the same intensity.
The mistake comes from not putting yourself in the place of the jury. They are a group of people who have to analyze different solutions to the same problem. There may be more and less brilliant ones but, in general, the latter abound. Either you make your project stand out in something or you will disappear in the first sieve.
Stop. Reflect and choose the “plus plus” of your project.
Then think about how you are going to highlight it graphically.
3 | Decide on the number of images and points of view
As you well know, the visualization of a project is divided into two fundamental parts :
- the creation of the 3d model, texturing and illumination of the model.
- the actual visualization of the model
Both parts of the process are very labor-intensive.
As we are human, it is very difficult for us, after such an effort, to give up the most common mistake in the contests:
too many images.
“since it is already done, I show it from all possible points of view and you will better understand all the virtues of my project”.
I insist: blunder.
What is really achieved is the dispersion of attention.
“No project” stands “to be viewed from more than 6-8 viewpoints.”
I would dare to say that it is preferable to make a single image rather than a second meaningless one.
Take a look at any architectural magazine and you will see the care that goes into the choice of viewpoints. That same rigor is the one that should guide us for two fundamental decisions:
- Clearly define the key points of our project.
- Choose the minimum number of images that define these key points.
Use consistent graphics throughout your presentation in which images and shots convey the author’s brand and keep your fingers crossed for the jury’s decision.
4 | Reserve time for execution of the images
Another common mistake that can only be solved with experience is not planning a strict schedule.
This timetable must accommodate every part of the process.
All are important and compliance is key to success.
Thinking that it is more important to dedicate as much time as possible to the development of the project and leaving the presentation as a secondary action will make our proposal, even if it is very brilliant, not stand out from the others because it appears vulgar or poorly worked.
Losers often accuse winning projects of being visual spectacles without a project behind them. I’m not saying that they are not right sometimes but, if you want to get a good success rate when it comes to contesting,
don’t hesitate: dedicate time to your presentation.
You will have more options as long as the project provides value.
It will depend on the size of the project, but, as a minimum, count between 6 and 12 days to generate both the images and the panels.
One last piece of advice: don’t be too strict in making sure that the information is coherent between shots and images. No one will notice and you will have extra time that will come in handy.
5 | Final tip: if you bet, mean it.
I always use the same simile when I try to explain the effort involved in entering an architectural competition:
is a raffle in which the raffle ticket costs one month of work.
Your firm has to assess the costs involved in this investment. Although it is foreseeable that you can combine the contest with some other work that generates income, it is realistic to think about a month of almost exclusive dedication of the whole team.
If you are not going to make the images inside the studio, negotiate a price linked to success.
We, for many years, used the following formula.
You had two options to hire our services:
OPTION A
RISK FREE, the images you want have a cost of X
OPTION B
A SUCCESS, your images will cost you X/2 but if you win the contest you will pay me 2X.
For a long time, we offered our services using this method.
The architects were betting on you and you were betting on them. When they won, we all won.
I hope these tips will at least give you food for thought.
I wish you luck in your next contest.