Has the architectural bidding system run its course?
Martin Peikert. © 2024 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0
Switzerland's unique architecture competition guarantees anonymous, objective evaluation of architects. Does Switzerland’s approach really level the playing field and foster diversity? That's what Martin Peikert sets out to find out in his PhD thesis. He summarizes the issues at stake in this column published in three daily newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland.
Switzerland’s system for running architectural design competitions has a number of distinctive features that set it apart from the ones used in other countries. Firms from any country can participate and, for reasons of objectivity, bids must be submitted anonymously. This approach is used in Switzerland for projects of all kinds, from small elementary schools to ambitious, ultra-modern museums.
The aim is simple: to offer a level playing field where early-career and established practitioners can compete on architectural merit alone, and to help bring through the next generation of talent by nurturing a spirit of healthy competition.
Increasingly apparent drawbacks
There’s no doubting the appeal of Switzerland’s system: it’s not uncommon for a project to build a school in remote Alpine town, for example, to attract 60 or more bids. In 2024, a small municipality in German-speaking Switzerland even had to cancel a design competition after receiving more than 100 bids because it didn’t have enough space to display all the proposals. With each bid representing between 400 and 600 hours of work, firms whose designs aren’t selected are essentially giving away their time for free.
For all its apparent merits, the system has some obvious drawbacks. But, as things stand, there’s no statistical method for identifying and evaluating them. Does Switzerland’s approach really level the playing field and foster diversity? Or does it entrench the competitive advantage enjoyed by a narrow elite? In the absence of accurate data and analysis, any attempt to answer these questions is mere speculation.
Our goal is to determine whether the benefits to this system still hold true, or whether it’s instead concentrating power in the hands of a few large firms.
Crunching the numbers
At the Laboratory of Construction and Architecture (FAR), we’re using statistics and rigorous quantitative methods to shed light on the state of play in the Swiss architecture market. Over the past two years, we’ve gathered data stretching back to 1990, covering more than 30,000 individual bids to over 1,500 design competitions. By examining this data in detail, our goal is to determine whether the benefits to this system still hold true, or whether it’s instead concentrating power in the hands of a few large firms.
Through this research – the first quantitative work in the Swiss context – we aim to understand the effects of the current system on architects and, in doing so, identify how the competition system might evolve in the near future.
Martin Peikert, architect and PhD student, Laboratory of Construction and Architecture (FAR), EPFL
This article appeared on 9 April 2025 in three local dailies – La Côte (Vaud Canton), Le Nouvelliste (Valais Canton) and Arcinfo (Neuchâtel Canton) – under a joint initiative between EPFL and ESH Médias to showcase the R&D being carried out at EPFL on advanced construction techniques.