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From: aba-net <interface.public@xxxxxxxx>
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Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:34:25 +0530
But for architects untrammeled public participation can be a mixed bag,
as reflected in the fraught design process at ground zero. Political
infighting and budget limits have forced all of the winning architects
there to compromise repeatedly on their designs: an embittering
experience for some, like Michael Arad, who has seen his design for a
memorial radically adjusted.
And sometimes the designs generated in a competition prove beyond the
client’s means, and the project is jettisoned altogether.
“It’s a killer,” said Mr. Gwathmey, who once won a competition for a
school in Shanghai only to find out the client did not have the money to
build it and had only been fishing for ideas.
“It’s been disruptive to the office and very expensive and very
time-consuming,” he said. “And in the end if you don’t win, you feel
depressed and set back in terms of other projects.” He essentially swore
off competitions about a decade ago.
cont'd....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/arts/design/19pogr.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=design&adxnnlx=1187528840-l1tjKWUJK4RLw/Q8F2Owhg