History of architectural competitions in Finland Architectural competitions have a long tradition in Western culture: The Acropolis in Athens was embellished as a result of architectural competitions some 2,500 years ago, and in the Middle Ages, competitions were held for the planning of cathedrals. The architectural competitions of today can be considered as a continuum consisting of a procedure that was developed during the Early Renaissance. At least in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and France, open competitions were held in the late 18th century. The practice of Open Academy competitions spread to the Swedish Academy of Art in the late 18th century.

Arkitektklubben was founded in Finland in 1892.The Architects’ Club served as a forum for lively discussion of competitions, and this led in1893 to the drafting of the first Finnish rules for architectural competitions. These rules followed the example of the corresponding Swedish ones, and they defined both the open competition and the competition by invitation. The majority of the jury were to be professionals in the field of building. The rules did not stipulate that only architects be allowed to participate. These principles, conceived in the 1890s, have proven enduring. It soon became a routine task for the Club to nominate architects to competition juries and to produce competition briefs.

The club’s rules of 1903 defined it as a responsibility of its art committee to participate in the organisation of architectural competitions. In 1919, the Architects’ Club formed an independent association, Suomen Arkkitehtiliitto - Finlands Arkitektförbund (SAFA; The Finnish Association of Architects), and in the same context expertise on architectural competitions was transferred from the club to the new association. Matters relating to competitions were handled in the assembly. Since 1947 the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) has had a separate Competition Board, and since 1963 a Competition Secretary has been employed at the SAFA office.