Open call: Basel Pavillon 2022

A program of Architekturwoche Basel.

Basel is seen as Switzerland’s architectural capital. “Baukultur” (building culture) is held in particularly high regard along the Rhine bend. The Architekturwoche Basel (AWB) aims to address this potential by offering a biannual platform for international architecture and urbanism in Basel for the first time. It will be held from May 9–15, 2022. 

Architecture must tread new paths in order to meet the ecological challenges of our time. The reuse of building components is an important aspect of this need. Under the auspices of Architekturwoche Basel (AWB), the design and programme of the Basel Pavillon intend to formulate a radical and aesthetic thesis for circular construction that implements (re)used components. A catalogue of used, reused building components from demolition projects in Switzerland is being compiled. It includes various building materials, types and scales.

Facing the consequences of environmental exploitation and destruction makes a paradigm shift in resource consumption imperative. New ways of building must shift towards a re-materialized construction. The existing environment needs to be reconsidered as a source of ideas and resources: to reuse, re-invent use and give life again. It must be seen as architectural potential. 

This shift starts on a small scale. With the ever-changing Basel Pavillon we wish to continue formulating a compelling radical thesis on the ideas of reuse and upcycling. If building elements that last for decades are reused rather than destroyed, not only are resources not wasted but it also drastically reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the construction phase of building. This so-called circular building brings with it a multitude of very different, challenging questions — from the technical and aesthetic side to the energy-related and legal aspects all the way to building culture.

This open call addresses and invites all creative minds, working in a variety of disciplines to submit their ideas addressing circular reuse through architecture and construction. Multidisciplinary teams from architecture, design, art, science and beyond are explicitly welcome to share their visions on the future now. It is through thinking together across disciplines and beyond current systems that we can start the much-needed revision in existing mindsets and processes related to our built environments. 

At the end of September, the Jury will select four proposals from the submitted entries who will then take part in the invited competition for the Basel Pavillon in Basel at Dreispitz. The competition will start with an initial workshop at the beginning of October. The submission deadline is at the end of November. Post planning and construction, the pavilion will open at Dreispitz on May 10, 2022 in conjunction with the inauguration of Architekturwoche Basel 2022.

The deadline for submission is Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at 11:59pm CET.

The submission should present the approach to the question and initial idea of circular building as clearly and concisely as possible.

Applying is only possible via the email pavillon [​at​] architekturwochebasel.ch.

Successful candidates will be informed by October 4, 2021.

The initial Workshop will happen on site at Wolf and Dreispitz in Basel on Monday, October 11, 2021, at 10am–3pm CET (RSVP).

For information about the open call, program and how to apply, please download or visit the website ArchitekturDialoge and Architektur Basel, or contact us at pavillon [​at​] architekturwochebasel.ch