Architecture contest where judges take a look

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Archiseek / Ireland / News / 2005 / November 3

When Ciarán O'Connor, assistant principal architect at the OPW (Office of Public Works), was asked by Plan Expo in 1999 how it could restructure its architectural competition, he suggested that the judges should actually visit the buildings. "I said that because I was disappointed, at the time, in the way that other competitions were done. I wouldn't cast aspertions on other award systems but I thought that just looking at pictures is a very dangerous way of judging something that is three dimensional." Because visiting each building on the shortlist - of around 28 structures - is very time-consuming, O'Connor thought that he would never hear from Plan Expo again. But they went ahead with the idea and launched what became the Opus Awards.

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