A number of prominent buildings in Switzerland have been designed by foreign architects. They include the Paul Klee Zentrum in Bern (opened 2005), by the Italian Renzo Piano, who also designed the museum for the Beyeler Foundation near Basel (opened 1997), and the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (opened 1998), by Frenchman Jean Nouvel.

Nouvel also built the Monolith for Switzerland's National Exhibition in 2002, a cube of rusting metal which transformed the lakescape of Murten. Despite hopes that it might be retained in the lake or moved elsewhere, it was finally decided to demolish it and send it for scrap.