This year, 51 dossiers were submitted to Pro Helvetia and in accordance to the competition regulations, seven projects have been selected for the shortlist of the competition.
 
These seven projects have been chosen by Pro Helvetia based on the recommendation of a specialised jury:

• «Les villes suisses se jettent à l'eau», a project of Paysage n’co sarl: Valérie Hoffmeyer, Monique Keller and Sylvie Kleiber - Geneva
• «Open Limit», a project of LVPH Architectes: Laurent Vuilleumier and Paul Humbert - Pampigny
• «The seven rules», a project of studioSML: Sara Cavicchioli, Léo Collomb, Max Collomb and Lisa Collomb - Lausanne
• «Thicknesses of the Swiss border», a project of Le Laboratoire d'architecture: Mounir Ayoub, Vanessa Lacaille, Fabrice Aragno and Pierre Szczepski - Geneva
• «True Story», a project of Patrick Arnold and Benjamin Groothuijse - Zurich
• «VILLA SVIZZERA», a project of Josephine Eigner, Michelle Geilinger, Dennis Häusler and Jan Westerheide - Zurich
• «Walla», a project of Mikael Blomfelt, Roger Boltshauser, Andres Bosshard, Veronika Spierenburg and Sabine von Fischer - Zurich

In the first round of the selection procedure, the jury conducted three stages of evaluation, which resulted in seven 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 51 entries and to pick a selection of them for the actual evaluation. Stages two and three consisted of comparing the results and cutting the number of projects retained down to seven.
 
The seven projects have been presented to the jury in a meeting in November 2018. The candidates that have been selected based on their presentation have been able to pursue and develop their projects for two months before the final assessment.