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Ideas and innovation, competition and research - roland bosbach
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It was this paradox of socio-economic juxtapositions, the clash of socialist and market ideologies, and the freedom of style that formed the background to architectural studies in former East Germany. Combined with the softening of market-regulations in the construction sector^[1] in the new Bundesl�nder and the threat of continuing marginalisation of the architectural profession it became a pressing argument for investigation into alternative working methods that develop objective parameters rather than follow the subjectivity of style. It proved the importance for architects and urbanists to develop an understanding for the complexity of socio-economic processes that allows them not only to reflect these processes but also to manipulate and steer them. In the end it is the ability to transform those processes into urban and architectural scenarios that sets the architect and urban designer apart from their growing number of competitors and that might allow them to find a new engagement with the long neglected public perception.

With Urban Design being an integral part of architectural education in Dresden University, the study of the interface between urbanism and architecture, between the collective and the private, between over-riding principles and individual expression, became the main area of investigation for alternative working methods. In the search for more objective non-architectural criteria and principles, different experiments with marketing techniques, such as market segmentation, matrices prioritizing selection, analysis of living patterns etc., in combination with traditional tools of urban design were carried out to explore more comprehensive programs for architectural scenarios (mainly housing) and led to the research project supermarketcity^[2], which still forms the background of both real and theoretical projects. Beginning with an application to university projects the working method of supermarketcity has since been applied to both urban design and architectural competitions as well as independent studies and real projects as small as office fit-outs and house extensions. And while idea competitions such as Europan6^[3] provided the framework for direct application of research findings and alternative scenarios, it is professional competitions with programs which reflect the symptoms of market dynamics that can give new input into the working methods. Linking competitions with research allows the evolution of working methods and is therefor important for a continuous vitalization of ideas. Nevertheless it is essential to set the targets right to allow a poignant investigation of selected parameters.