The federal government, cantons and communes as well as professional builders often hold architecture competitions for the awarding of their major building contracts.
Characteristics are:
Organiser
- Professional private builders
- The federal government, cantons and communes for public buildings
Participants
- Most architects
- Public invitation
Evaluation body
- Jury of experts, who are considered (should be) well known
Objectives
Organiser
- Planner solution proposals
- Planning competition
- Idea competition
- Project competition
- Overall performance competition
- Combination of the above
- Planning competition
Architects
- Ranking as winner
- Possible follow-up contracts
Procedure
- Rigid, anonymous procedure (pre-formulated competition terms and conditions)
- Consistent separation of solution proposals and creators (anonymity, experts do not know the identity of the participants)
- No rolling solution optimisation
- No interaction for development and no knowledge of the jury’s rationale
Awarding
- Prize (for the winner) as part of a ranking with secondary possible compensation
- Entitlement to possible follow-up contracts for the winner
- Binding decision of the awarding body
Architecture competitions (AW) are disputed. Advantages and disadvantages are known. The architecture competition (AW) as a “promotional contest of architectural work” is a thing of the past.