Architectural competitions as a municipal instrument for innovating space for the ageing society: the dynamics of three competitions

Sweden is entering the ageing society. On a national level, and in a cyclic process with a time lap of 30 to 40 years, three architecture competitions have been realized during the 20th century in order to renew spatial thinking concerning housing for dependent and frail persons in need of daily care and caring, in the following termed Residential Care Homes, RCH. During the first years of the 21st century, the number of available flats in a RCH dropped with 23 per cent. As a result, the matter of appropriate housing for frail older people entered the political agenda. In 2010, the Swedish government launched the governmental program Growing Old, Living well, GOLW, in order to explore residential housing for the emerging ageing society. In the program, architecture competitions were recognized as a method for innovating architecture and the built environment. This study is a parallel case study on three municipal organizers\u92 considerations and preparations for organizing invited architecture competitions with prequalification. The research material consists of written documentation, questionnaires and interviews. All in all, 42 respondents participated, all actors in the municipal process of realizing either a pilot study in view of a subsequent architectural competition, or just the latter option. The assembled research material was submitted to a close reading analysis, which allowed for reconstructing the municipal organizational processes as to their dynamics. The study sheds light on how municipal actors work with the matter of organizing a competition, and gives an estimate of time necessary for planning one. The study lends support to assuming that the ideal time frame for organizing and realizing municipal competitions is approximately 21 months. A more compressed time line will generate problems that will be visible in the architects\u92 submitted proposals and the subsequent jury assessment process