The article evaluates the Center of Contemporary Arts Rog project and relates the course of events following the competition to the question of architectural autonomy and the institution of the public architectural competition. The basis of the argumetation is Adorno‘s concept of architecture as a useful art. The question of aesthetic reflection, which Adorno opens up along with the question of space, is developed further with Rancière‘s concept of the distribution of the sensible. The understanding of architecture as a form of sensible experience is interpreted as the basis for a potential redefinition of the conditions of architectural competitions. Consequently, this calls for a rethinking of the activities within the architectural discipline.