Switzerland’s culture of organizing architecture competitions to attribute public mandates is a fundamental practice for the evolution of reflections on architecture, urbanism and construction. Open and fair competitions allow new talents to emerge and tackle environmental, urban and social challenges of today and tomorrow. Innovation is a natural result of this system, influencing the quality of the cities and people’s daily lives.
However, the architecture competitions’ functioning is not necessarily known to the general public. This exhibition aims at showing and explaining how competitions are organized and their benefits.

Through a traveling exhibition, Switzerland will export its 140 years of experience in organizing public architectural competitions. This exhibition was designed to feature at the 27th World Congress of Architects. The world congress organized by the International Union of Architects (UIA) takes place every three years. For the first time, the congress will be held in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, named UNESCO World Capital of Architecture.

The exhibition will be presented for the first time from 15 April to 2 May 2021 in Geneva at the Sicli Pavilion, an architectural milestone and a symbolic place for the built environment’s quality, ideal for unveiling this exhibition.
It will then travel to Rio de Janeiro, opening to the public from 17 July to 15 October 2021 at the Gustavo Capanema Palace.