Accelerate Debates: (un)Healthy Competition

Monday, November 24, 2025
7:00 PM 9:00 PM

The Rich Mix 35-47 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E1 6LA London, England United Kingdom (map)

Google Calendar ICS

People’s Pavilion 2023. Photo by Luke O’Donavan

‘Competition is the completest expression of the battle of all against all…Each is in the way of the other, and each seeks to crowd out all who are in his way, and to put himself in their place.’

- Condition of the Working Class in England, Friedrich Engels, 1845

For emerging practices, competitions can seem like a golden ticket — a rare crack in the armour of an industry that too often feels impenetrable. They promise visibility, legitimacy, and the chance to catalyse ambitious projects. Many of today’s architectural heavyweights first made their debut on the competition circuit.

At their best, competitions level the playing field. When judged anonymously, they offer a rare meritocracy — where new voices can challenge the establishment, and ideas are able to rise above reputations.

But competitions can also be expensive, exhausting, and often exploitative. They involve hours of unpaid labour, mounting costs and an all-too-familiar feeling of handing over your intellectual property for free, with zero guarantees of success in return.

Perhaps competitions are a part of the industry’s toxic culture, pitting practices against each other, rather than promoting collaboration in a race to the bottom? What does this say about our profession and about how architects are valued? And how does it determine the way we work — constantly pitching, constantly producing, constantly chasing - continually competing with one another?

Join us for the final Accelerate Debate of the year, where leading voices from across the industry will tackle the big question: Is there a healthier way to run competitions that makes them worth the risk?