Basilea Station showed the typical problems of all stop-and-go train stations that stand parallel to railway lines. The proposal for its transformation assigns this important piece of infrastructure its new urban role: as a gate for travellers that reach the city and as a connection between neighbourhoods that until now had no direct link.
As of today construction on the Grosspeter Tower in Basel is completed. The Zurichbased client PSP Swiss Property took the occasion to officially inaugurate this energetically exemplary building. What is not immediately apparent is that the façade generates electricity.
The prerequisite of the client was that an in all respects sustainable building should be designed. These aspirations are particularly expressed in the façade, as the integrated photovoltaic elements generate enough electricity to cover a large part of the energy requirements. As the solar cells are almost unrecognisable the Swiss architects Burckhardt+Partner AG could reinterpret the otherwise seen as technoid expression of these elements into an item of design and architecture.
The southward-sloping plot not far from basel is framed to the east and south by a beautiful deciduous forest. Breathtaking views into the dense, deep- green foliage in the summer and the leafless and airy branch structure in the winter were a decisive factor in calibrating the daylight and arranging the spaces in this home in interplay with the natural surroundings, becoming the leitmotif for the architecture.
The main assembly hall of the former Burckhardt machine factory in Basel, Switzerland, has been used as an event space over the years. With a new tenant (launchlabs.ch) the structure is now additionally requested to serve as a multifunctional working environment.
Foeger Woman Pure“ has been one of Austria’s leading fashion boutiques for the past 20 years. Located in the picturesque alpine Town of Telfs in Tyrol (population 15,000) the store offers its customers fashion from international designer all over the world. Pedrocchi Architects from Basel, Switzerland, extended the existing fashion boutique with a cupola-like building which house the collections of new and promising designers.
The idea was to plan a building which is dedicated to jazz. It was a challenge to bring the two disciplines together as jazzmusic works with improvisation and serendipity while architecture seaks to avoid random and tries to plan and fix things to make them persist. The second question was how to integrate a new building into the grown city structure of the old town in Basel. During our research we realized that the plan of the buildings on the site hasn’t changed much during centuries although the buildings themselves were exchanged several times. So we decided to believe in the “architecture-trouvée” and create the building’s volume on the base of the old citymap. The result is a diverse volume with a courtyard in the center.
The Physic Garden is a place to celebrate sensuous phenomena of all kinds. It is a place where mystic scents, changing colors, and seasonal variety can be enjoyed and studied. It is also a test bed for pharmacological research.
Landscape architect: Thorbjörn Andersson with Sweco architects
Team: Pege Hillinge, Johan Krikström, Johnny Lindeberg, Emma Norrman (plants), Therese Egnor (plants), Alexander Cederroth (light), Markus Moström (graphics), Pål Svensson (drinking fountains).
Article source: Walters Storyk Design Group (WSDG)
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND: NEO, is a dazzling new club/bar/restaurant located on the ground floor of an upscale high-rise in Zurich’s burgeoning Europaallee Sector. Although the rapidly gentrifying area is adjacent to the Swiss Railroad Mainstation, the local residents’ chic demographic makes late night clamor particularly objectionable. Sensitive to potential neighborhood backlash, the venue owners resolved to deflect these latent problems before they became an issue. Their solution? Engage Walters-Storyk Design Group-WSDG.
The new ETH building is conceived as an efficient and flexible architectural device, providing an answer to the multiple aspects shaping its complex environment.
On the one hand, the landscape and the urban quality of the public spaces around the building condition the building’s insertion. The respect of the historical urban fabric, in particular the Heritage garden in the south facade of the site, is essential as it constitutes an important area of the city urban fabric throughout the centuries. At the same time, all the classed trees in the site will be preserved.
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