Managing architectural competitions: Empirical evidence from practices in the UK and Italy

Since project based organizations are a typical configuration in the architecture industry, two streams of research are relevant for architecture practices. (1) Team management, as architecture design and production originate from collaborative networks among multiple actors, but results from empirical studies have been inconsistent regarding which variables are predictive of team performance and project success. (2) Project management, as management in organizing practices has grown in recent years, even if existing research has difficulty with linking performance attributes to specific factors such as organizational form, company culture or strategy. Based on these premises, the paper focuses on architecture competitions which are a currently debated topic and one of the most important rituals to acquire work. The aim is to explore how competitions are part of the practice’s business strategy and how teams work on competitions' proposals. We analyse and compare two case studies of middle-sized architectural practices (around 30-40 employees), one in Italy and one in the UK, competing for work through competitions. Preliminary findings suggest that architectural competitions can serve both exploration and exploitation strategies and are based on a collaborative design process.