044 Apartment Building and Nursing Home Schwarz Park

Competition: 1987-1988

The project, which came into being for a competition, entailed building up one of the last plots of land in a residential quarter of Basel that dates back to the 19th century. The housing units are bound to each other to form a whole. Their shape ties in with the architecture of a neighbouring building, the Bethesda Hospital, and to the topography of the plot in its downward slope to the Birsig River. Built on the plot’s upper part located along the street, the apartment block leaves the lower part (the park and riverbanks) untouched. The underlying orthogonal composition brings to mind Alvar Aalto’s National Pensions building (Helsinki 1952-1956). The horizontal balconies and large openings form gaps enabling us to see through this linear structure, while the overall angular shape divides the different parts into tiers. Meanwhile, the back of the building, which faces the park, appears as a closed wall.
Herzog & de Meuron, 1988

Drawings

Team

Partners: Jacques Herzog; Pierre de Meuron
Project Team: Dieter Gysin; Rina Plangger; Annette Gigon; Christine Staehelin; Luca Selva

Facts

Client: Schwarz Park Immobilien AG

Bibliography

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1978-1988. The Complete Works. Volume 1.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Chinese ed. Beijing, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010. Vol. No. 1.

Fernando Márquez Cecilia, Richard Levene (Eds.): “El Croquis. Herzog & de Meuron 1981-2000. Between the Face and the Landscape. The Cunning of Cosmetics. Entre el Rostro y el Paisaje. La Astucia de la Cosmética.” 2nd adv. and rev. ed. Vol. No. 60+84, Madrid, El Croquis, 2005.

“Wilfried Wang: Herzog & de Meuron.” 3rd adv. and rev. ed. Basel / Boston / Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1998. (= Studiopaperback).

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1978-1988. Das Gesamtwerk. Band 1. The Complete Works. Volume 1.”
Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Basel / Boston / Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1997. Vol. No. 1.

Jacques Herzog: “Die verborgene Geometrie der Natur. The Hidden Geometry of Nature.”
In: Gerhard Mack (Ed.). “Herzog & de Meuron 1978-1988. Das Gesamtwerk. Band 1. The Complete Works. Volume 1.” Basel / Boston / Berlin, Birkhäuser, 1997. Vol. No. 1. pp. 207-211.
First published in: Jacques Herzog: “La Geometria oculta de la Naturalesa. The Hidden Geometry of Nature.”
In: Josep Lluís Mateo (Ed.). “Quaderns d’Arquitectura i Urbanisme. Geogafies. Geographies.” Vol. No. 181/182, Barcelona, Col-legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya. Association of Catalan Architects, 09.1989. pp. 96-109.

“Entschiedene Wettbewerbe. Basel: Dalbe-Dych im Gellert.”
In: Verlegergemeinschaft Werk, Bauen + Wohnen (Ed.). “Werk, Bauen + Wohnen. Ismen der Konstruktion. Ismes de la Construction. Isms of the Construction.” Vol. No. 5, Zurich, Verlag Bauen + Wohnen GmbH, 05.1988. p. 92.