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TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY 



PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE 

 ON COMPETITIONS, 1916 



February 6, 1917. 

 James Sturgis Pray, Esq., 

 •■iO Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



Dear Sir: — I wish to submit herewith a pre- 

 liminary report of the Committee on Com- 

 petitions of which I have the honor of being 

 chairman. 



1st. It seems to be the opinion of the ma- 

 jority of this committee that competitions for 

 the purpose of selecting a finished design 

 should be discouraged because of the difficulty 

 of representing the complex elements of land- 

 scape design in graphic form, — also because 

 the designers do not have the opportunity to 

 confer with the owners in order to gain a 

 clear idea of the nature of the problem, but 

 must rely upon the data of a program gen- 

 erally too vague to allow unity of interpreta- 

 tion and effort on the part of the competitors. 

 2nd. It is the opinion of the majority of the 

 committee that competitions for the selection 

 of a designer through the presentation of de- 

 signs for a specific problem are preferable to 

 the former, but that the A. S. L. A. should 

 not encourage them. Since competitions of 

 this sort are frequently unavoidable, especially 

 in case of public undertakings, the A. S. L. A. 

 should do what it can in order to produce a 

 better attitude on the part of the public and 

 to offset the disposition of laymen to ignore 

 or greatly under-rate the degree of importance 

 in the final results of all the professional ser- 

 vices which follow the first expression of the 

 main conception of a design in the form of 

 drawings. In other words, before a competi- 

 tor is admitted to the competition the pro- 

 motors of a competition for the selection of a 

 designer should satisfy themselves as to the 

 ability of each competitor to execute the work 

 successfully, as shown by previous work. 



3rd. It is the opinion of some members of 

 the committee that since competitions must be 

 held the least objectionable form of competi- 

 tion is for the sake of securing ideas from one 

 or more of the competitors, provided such 

 ideas are obtained through reports and rough 

 sketches and not through elaborate drawings. 

 4th. Since competitions cannot be prevent- 

 ed, it seems logical that the A. S. L. A. should 

 endeavor: 



(A) To publish a statement for the use of 

 the public embodying a concise criticism of 

 the several forms of competition and a sug- 

 gestion as to the most advantageous form in 

 which to conduct competitions. 



(B) To establish a set of rules under which 

 it is assumed that members of the A. S. L. A. 

 may fairly enter into competitions, discourag- 

 ing at the same time these members from 

 taking part in competitions not conducted in 

 accordance with such rules. 



These rules, in so far as they regard the 

 public should cover: 



a — The employment of a professional ad- 

 viser. 



b — The selection of a jury of award. 



c — The qualifications of the competitors. 



d — The form of competition. 



e — The nature of the program. 



f — The nature of the drawings. 



g — The anonymity of the competitors. 



h — The statement of cost of proposed work. 



i — The nature of agreement between the 

 promoters and the successful competitors. 



j — The fee due to unsuccessful competitors. 



k — The conduct of the promoters of the 

 competition. 



In so far as they regard the members of the 

 A. S. L. A. the rules should: 



(A) .'\ssert the inadvisability to take part 

 in competitions which are not conducted in 

 accordance with the above. 



(B) Prohibit to attempt in any way except 

 as a competitor to secure work for which a 

 competition is in progress. 



(C) Prohibit to attempt to influence direct- 

 ly or indirectly the award in a competition in 

 which he is a competitor. 



(D) Prohibit the acceptance of a commis- 

 sion to do the work for which a competition 

 has been instituted if he has acted in an ad- 

 visory capacity. 



(E) Prohibit the submission of a design 

 which was not entirely made in his own office 

 under his own supervision, or in case of col- 

 laboration if the names of the collaborators 

 arc not given. 



Respectfully submitted, 

 (Signed) FERRUCCIO VITALE, 



Chairman. 



