Architectural competition

In February 1998, the architectural competition was launched with four calls for proposals, one for each Arteplage. The aim was to assemble interdisciplinary teams composed of architects, engineers, landscape architects, scenographers, artists, and specialists. The requirements were diverse and ambitious: four sites, each consisting of an Expopark (exhibition area on land) and a Forum (the exhibition platform on the water), a tight budget framework for infrastructure such as restaurants, boat docks, reception and entrance areas, theaters and stages, and so on. The four Arteplages were to be distinguished by a recognizable design that reflected both their thematic narrative and the genius loci. Accordingly, the competition documents included not only technical and planning specifications, but also preparatory materials such as associative grids, visual worlds, and information on planned exhibitions.

Paolo Ugolini, the Directeur Technique of the then Expo.01, intended—very much in the tradition of chief architects Armin Meili (Landi 39) and Alberto Camenzind (Expo64)—to give the national exhibition an architectural profile with a strong identity. As early as 1997, Ugolini developed a modular system defining two standardized large-scale forms: the platforms in the lake and the roofs above them—both designed as tensegrity structures. Alongside this engineering design, specified down to the smallest detail, Ugolini also had the implications for construction logistics worked out, including prefabrication, transport, and transfer sites. These elements were prescribed in the competition.

Procedure

The competition did not proceed without difficulties. The 47 submitted proposals were evaluated in July 1998 by an international jury. In the prequalification phase, the field of participants was reduced to 16 competitors for a second round: four teams per Arteplage. However, the conflict between the playful design proposals and Ugolini’s rigorously engineered overall concept soon became apparent: in autumn 1998, the then artistic director Pipilotti Rist, the international jury, and the participating teams opposed the overly restrictive guidelines. An interpretation of the Arteplage themes and site-specific characteristics was hardly possible in a creative way. In particular, on the platforms, the design freedom between the two prescribed horizontal spatial layers was too limiting.

To resolve the conflict without aborting the process, Ruedi Rast was appointed as crisis manager. He loosened the framework conditions to allow for greater interpretative freedom, extended the competition deadline, and introduced an interim review. As a result, the modular system and its constraints were relativized. Paolo Ugolini subsequently submitted his resignation. The interim review took place in December 1998, and in February 1999 the final presentations and the jury’s final evaluation were held. At a press conference on 02.03.1999, in Geneva, the four winning teams were announced.

The winning projects demonstrated that moving away from the modular system and its associated uniform primary structure was essential for achieving the distinct identity of the four Arteplage architectures. Through the competition, each Arteplage received its own architectural team with an individual signature. The traditional and patriarchal role of the architecte en chef of Swiss national exhibitions was replaced by a more collaborative form of partnership.

The architectural concepts were thus created through the competition. The Technical Directorate assumed the role of overall coordination, made decisions regarding extensive cost reductions and alternative solutions, and ensured the architectural quality of the implementation.

^{Ruedi Rast, Directeur Technique, Architecture Expo.02, 2003}