Architectural perspective

Perspective in drawing is an approximate representation on a flat surface of an image as it is perceived by the eye. The key concepts here are:

Perspective is the view from a particular fixed viewpoint.

Horizontal and vertical edges in the object are represented by horizontals and verticals in the drawing.

Lines leading away into the distance appear to converge at a vanishing point.

All horizontals converge to a point on the horizon, which is a horizontal line at eye level.

Verticals converge to a point either above or below the horizon.

The basic categorization of artificial perspective is by the number of vanishing points:

One-point perspective where objects facing the viewer are orthogonal, and receding lines converge to a single vanishing point.

Two-point perspective reduces distortion by viewing objects at an angle, with all the horizontal lines receding to one of two vanishing points, both located on the horizon.

Three-point perspective introduces additional realism by making the verticals recede to a third vanishing point, which is above or below depending upon whether the view is seen from above or below.

The normal convention is architectural perspective is to use two-point perspective, with all the verticals drawn as verticals on the page.

Three-point perspective gives a casual, photographic snapshot effect. In professional architectural photography, conversely, a view camera or a perspective control lens is used to eliminate the third vanishing point, so that all the verticals are vertical on the photograph, as with the perspective convention. This can also be done by digital manipulation of a photograph taken with a normal camera.

Aerial perspective is a technique in painting, for indicating distance by approximating the effect of the atmosphere on distant objects. In daylight, as an ordinary object gets further from the eye, its contrast with the background is reduced, its colour saturation is reduced, and its colour becomes more blue.

A montage image is produced by superimposing a perspective image of a building on to a photographic background. Care is needed to record the position from which the photograph was taken, and to generate the perspective using the same viewpoint. This technique is popular in computer visualisation, where the building can be photorealistically rendered, and the final image is intended to be almost indistinguishable from a photograph.

Architectural design competition

An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals and stakeholders (such as government and local representatives). This procedure is often used to generate new ideas for the building design, to stimulate public debate, to generate publicity for the project and allow emerging designers the opportunity of gaining exposure. Architecture competitions are often used for public buildings in Denmark, Switzerland and Germany, while in France design competitions are compulsory for all public buildings exceeding a certain cost.

Attaining the first prize in a competition is not a guarantee that the project will be completed. This is due to any number of local issues that can develop at the proposed construction site. The owner of the site must also be able to obtain financing for construction and often has the right to veto the winning design.

Architecture competitions have a more than 2,500-year-old history. The Acropolis in Athens was a result of an architectural competition, as were several cathedrals in the Middle Ages. In 1419 a competition was held to design the dome of the Florence Cathedral, which was won by Filippo Brunelleschi. Open competitions were held in the late 18th century in several countries including the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, France and Sweden.

In 19th century England and Ireland there have been over 2,500 competitions in five decades, with 362 in London alone. The Institute of British Architects drafted a first set of rules in 1839, and a set of formal regulations in 1872. In the same period in the Netherlands an association for the advancement of architecture (Maatschappij tot Bevordering van de Bouwkunst) started organising conceptual competitions with the aim of stimulating architects' creativity.

There are a variety of competition types resulting from the combination of following options:

Open competitions (international, national or regional) or Limited / Selected competitions, depending on who is allowed to participate;

Project competitions or Ideas competitions, depending on whether the aim is to build the project or to generate new ideas only;

One stage or Two stage competitions, depending on the scale and complexity of the competition;

Student design competitions.

The rules of each competition are defined by the organiser, however these often follow the guidelines provided by the International Union of Architects, respectively the relevant national or regional architecture organisation. Competition guidelines define roles, responsibilities, processes, and procedures within a competition and provide guidance on possible competition types, eligibility criteria, jury composition, participation conditions, payments, prizes, publication of results and other aspects.