The Venice Architecture Biennale is universally considered as one of the foremost platforms for architecture and urban design worldwide. With the 16th edition due to open in May 2018, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia launched a competition last December for the design of the Swiss Pavilion at the Biennale.

In the first of two rounds, 81 dossiers were submitted to Pro Helvetia. In accordance with the competition regulations, five of them have been selected for the second round.

The five projects chosen by Pro Helvetia on the basis of recommendation by the jury are the following:

• «Competition Culture», a project of Tanya Zein (Dipl. Arch. EPFL/FAS), Jean-Paul Jaccaud (Dipl. Arch. EPFL/FAS) and Simon Lamunière (curator) – Geneva
• «No man is an island – shared resources», a project of Corina Ebeling (Dipl. Arch. EPF/SIA), Charles O. Job (MA Urban Design. Dipl. Arch. RIBA), Cornelia Faist (curator, cultural director, MA), Brigitte Lampert (graphic designer, MA, Central Saint Martins) and Katharina Hofer (graphic designer, ZHdK) – Zurich
• «Outlaw», a project of Charles Pictet (Dipl. Arch. FAS/SIA) – Geneva
• «Schwellenräume des Wohnens», a project of Florian Kessel (Dipl.-Ing. Arch.), Roland Züger (Dipl.-Ing. Arch.), Caspar Schärer (Dipl. Arch. ETH/SIA) and Marcel Bächtiger (Dipl. Arch. ETH) – Zurich
• «2:1, Gute Wohnung», a project of Alessandro Bosshard (MSc ETH Arch.), Li Tavor (MSc ETH Arch.) and Matthew Vander Ploeg (M.Arch, UIC) – Zurich

In the first round of the selection procedure, the jury conducted three stages of evaluation, which resulted in five projects remaining in the competition. In stage one, the projects submitted were closely assessed and compared. Each jury member was instructed to personally rate the 81 entries and to pick ten of them for the actual evaluation. Stages two and three consisted of comparing the results and cutting the number of projects retained down to five.

The five projects selected will be presented to the jury in person on 7 April 2017. Prior to the second round of the competition, the candidates involved will be obliged to inform the jurors on project developments by 6 June 2017 at the latest.

Based on the jury’s recommendation, Pro Helvetia will nominate the project chosen for the Swiss Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 on 30 June 2017.