Planning competitions are used in public and private projects as an instrument for optimising the design and selecting planning partners. For both small and large projects, the organised, fair, transparent and specialist process helps to improve the quality of urban development, buildings, open spaces and art. Like its successful predecessor title, this book documents the competition procedures coordinated by [phase eins]. in recent years. Founded in 1998, [phase eins]. is one of the leading offices for project consulting and competition management in the fields of architecture and urban design. A total of 27 projects in Germany, Austria, Albania, Ukraine, Kuwait, Belgium, Canada and Lebanon are presented with extensive illustrations and explanations. The book also contains texts on fundamental issues relating to the competition system.

Benjamin Hossbach, born in Darmstadt in 1966. He completed his training as a carpenter in 1988 and his architectural studies at the TU Berlin in 1995. After working as an online ­editor for Bauwelt and as a freelance architect, he founded the office [phase eins]. project consultants + design competition organizers in 1998. He is the ­author of numerous publications on architectural competitions and a guest lecturer at ETH Zurich, Harvard University, the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and TU Berlin, among others.