Every museum or cultural attraction is unique, and so it follows that each deserves a unique and extraordinary building. So how does one go about finding an architectural design worthy of a world-class cultural attraction? The answer is through a design competition.
Malcolm Reading will discuss the characteristics of successful design competitions, as well as the countless benefits that they bring to cultural clients, in a session for the Connecting Culture Virtual Conference and Expo, taking place on the 9 September 2020.
Malcolm will be joined by former client Aistė Lukaševičiūtė, Head of Investment at the Kaunas City Municipal Administration. In 2016, MRC worked with Aistė to run the most popular design contest ever held in Lithuania to find a design for the country’s new National Science and Innovation Centre. Nicknamed Science Island, this unique visitor attraction will popularise science through hands-on enquiry, located on a dramatic island site within Kaunas, a UNESCO-designated City of Design.
This incredible opportunity attracted 144 diverse entries from 44 countries and was a classic one-stage design contest, where a concept design was selected as opposed to the two-stage competition, which majors on selecting a design team. Under Lithuanian law, the three top studios were asked to tender and finally, SMAR Architecture Studio was appointed to develop their concept through to completion on site.
Malcolm and Aistė will reveal both competition organiser and client perspectives at this free online Conference and Expo. Connecting Culture will bring together professionals in the worlds of museums, heritage and culture, in an effort to rebuild and respond to the Covid-19 crisis. Industry leaders and influencers will provide a varied programme of fascinating sessions, focusing on international opportunities and showcasing the best that UK companies can offer the global sector.
One of the emphases will be on the many components needed to create exceptional experiences in museums and heritage attractions, ranging from architectural design to using technology to create immersive exhibits.
Connecting Culture runs over two days on the 9 and 10 September and will allow guests to meet, connect and share ideas with other heritage professionals, as well as prospective clients and business contacts.
Malcolm and Aistė’s session, ‘The design competition that delivers the world’, will be held at 13.00 BST on Wednesday 9 September. To attend, please register here.
