How do I convince in the design competition?

A lot can happen before something becomes the way it works or looks in the end. The path to that point is never a straight one. Failures, feedback, new knowledge or mistakes change not only the original idea but also the finished design. Although this process can be exciting and reflects one's own thinking and learning, it is rarely documented in applications. Therefore, Tobias Hoss encourages taking the jury through the application documents and mapping the entire process of the work.

In the last few days before the deadline, it helps to isolate yourself and concentrate fully on the application. But especially when you're so deeply involved in the project, an outside perspective is all the more important. Do friends, colleagues or fellow students understand your work and application? Can they grasp the core of your work and how does your project sound to your ears when they try to explain it to you?

Innovation, sustainability, equal rights or mobility of the future: these are all topics where designers provide important impulses. But they can quickly lose their relevance as superficial buzzwords if they are thrown over weak ideas as a veil to enhance them. Tobias emphasises how much he is impressed by applications that cite sources around the idea, make scientific contexts transparent and provide knowledge about the design and the environment it is supposed to serve.

Read correctly. Of course, this does not mean that you should copy the ideas. Analyse the way they are presented and the project description or go through the preparation step by step. In this way, you virtually slip into the role of a jury yourself. How would you evaluate the application? Tobias Hoss's source of inspiration for this are, for example, the architectural projects of the international studio BIG-BJARKE INGELS GROUP. In his opinion, they combine the elements of storytelling, design process and research in a particularly exciting way in their project descriptions.

This year, we will once again be awarding the Silberstreifen Award and will be awarding 3000 euros to Hamburg teams and 2000 euros to designers whose designs provide concrete solutions to questions relating to sustainability, digitalisation and urban space. Follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to hear about the Open Call.