KiöR Competition Processes

The most common form of art competitions are closed competitions with a limited number of participants. Artists are invited by name to submit an artistic design and receive an honorarium. Depending on the competition, one or more of the submitted designs are selected by the jury for realisation.

For larger budgets, open competitions are held in which all artists can participate. The competition takes place in two phases. In the first phase, a concept idea is submitted, for which no honorarium is paid. The jury then selects ideas from the first phase proposals to be developed into a feasible design in the second, remunerated phase. In a second jury session, the work for realisation is selected from these designs.

Also common are competitions with a preliminary application process. In these so-called “participatory competitions” artists submit example references of previously completed projects without a specific design for the project in question. A selected number of participants are then invited to a closed competition. There is no renumeration for the preliminary application.

Decision-making bodies

The decision-making bodies (juries, advisory boards, commissions) consist of an odd number of members and consider parity in composition. Members should have technical and subject matter expertise in their field. The members include visual artists, representatives of the commissioning bodies and users, architects, representatives of the professional public and the relevant administrative bodies. Art experts should constitute the majority within the committees.

The staff of the Office for Art in Public Space participate in juries as procedural experts. However, they do not select artists for the procedure and do not make their own proposals. Their task is to ensure transparency and fairness in the procedure and to communicate the proposals of the advisory boards.

Awarding bodies and juries

The awarding body is the legally binding contact person for all competition participants and is responsible for the proper conduct of the competition. The awarding body can be an administrative body (federal, state or district), an association or a private individual – in most cases, it is a state or district administration.

The jury assesses the artistic quality of the proposals submitted and makes a recommendation for implementation.

A jury is composed of expert judges and subject matter judges. Subject matter judges represent the organiser, a participating administration or the users. Expert judges are visual artists. Expert judges should be in the majority within the jury.

Construction Directive (ABau)

For all buildings, roads, squares and parks constructed with public funds, such as schools, kindergartens, administrative buildings and other construction projects, 1 to 2 per cent of the construction sum is spent on art. This requirement is defined in the Construction Directive (ABau).

Furthermore, ABau regulates responsibility for the implementation of competitions and the realisation of their results, as well as the composition of selection committees. ABau has been in force for art in architecture and public space since 2013. The Office for Art in Public Space strives to continuously improve these regulations.

Alternative guidelines for art in architecture and public space

Since 2015, the Senate Department of Culture has been working on a ‘Guide to Art in Architecture and Art in Public Space for the State of Berlin’, which was published in December 2019. This guide differs in important aspects from the Federal Government’s Guidelines for Planning Competitions (RPW2013), which were also introduced for the State of Berlin in May 2013. Due to the lack of alignment with the RPW2013, the artists' associations represented in the Art Advisory Committee have drawn up an ‘Alternative Guidelines for Art in Architecture and Art in Public Space’ in 2021. This highlights the need for improvement in the guidelines for Berlin and provides greater clarity and scope for action in the field of competitions for art in architecture and art in public space.