L’Architecte et le programme en situation de concours : une quête de réassurance et d’ouverture

In the sequenced procedural context of the restricted competition in France where the program appears to be an essential link between the definition of the commission and the design work, a programming agency asked a research laboratory at a school of architecture to help it understand how architects use this document. What information caught their attention? What conditions do the designers feel must be met for the program to stimulate their creativity? This article presents the results of this research partnership, based on a qualitative survey conducted in 2019 and 2020 among 16 architects in charge of agencies, and refining the results of research conducted by the laboratory on a national scale on the conduct of competitions during the period 2006-2015. It shows that, over and above the problems posed by excessively vague or prescriptive commissions, architects are looking for signs of strong political support for the project and a prioritising of expectations. There is also an emerging need among designers to understand the foundations of the programmatic choices made and to appreciate their robustness, in order to make the most of the freedom given by the program and to be in a better position to transcend it. For their part, the professionals in charge of drawing up the program are often encouraged by the clients to produce prescriptions at the competition stage that commit them to design solutions without having to justify them, which fosters situations of mistrust.