Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.
Rheinschanze 6
4056 Basel, Switzerland
Email: info@herzogdemeuron.com
Phone: +41 61 385 5757
Munich, Germany
The gallery is a freestanding volume situated within a park-like garden of birches and conifers between the street and the house from the 1960s. Thus the building can be used both as a public as well as a purely private gallery; a role that is to be settled in the future. The building’s architectural conception corresponds to the character of the works that the collector has brought together over the last 30 years, embracing the art of the 1960s to today: Nauman, Ryman, Twombly, Kounellis, Federle, Rückriem and others.
A timber configuration rests on a reinforced-concrete base of the same dimension that is half buried so that only its upper glazed perimeter is visible from the outside. A similar matt glass strip surrounds the timber volume at the uppermost section, admitting diffuse glare-free daylight from a height of 4 meters into the exhibition spaces. The walls within the exhibition spaces are between 4 and 5.5 meters high.
Two reinforced-concrete tubes are set laterally between the lower and upper galleries. The larger of the two serves as the office and reception. Depending on the daylight conditions and the point of view of the observer, the gallery appears either as a closed, flush volume consisting of related materials (birch plywood, matt glass, untreated aluminum) or as a wooden box, resting on two trowels in the garden.
Herzog & de Meuron, 1996
The facade radiates a certain classic assertion and comes alive through the interaction of the surrounding nature and light with the materials. Library, reception hall and infrastructure are located within the two square concrete tubes that support the upper floor.
The view from the street through the wooden fence enhances the horizontal dimensions of the building.
The interior offers variable and always surprising lighting conditions. A: large exhibition gallery in the basement; B, C: staircase; D: view of the three exhibition galleries on the upper floor.
Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1989-1991. The Complete Works. Volume 2.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Chinese ed. Beijing, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010. Vol. No. 2.
Luis Fernández-Galiano (Ed.): “Arquitectura Viva. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2007.” 2nd rev. ed. Madrid, Arquitectura Viva, 2007.
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.
“Herzog & de Meuron. Natural History.” Edited by: Philip Ursprung. Exh. Cat. “Herzog & de Meuron. Archaeology of the Mind.” Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. 23 October 2002 – 6 April 2003. 2nd ed. Baden, Lars Müller, 2005.
Jacques Herzog, Sabine Kraft, Christian Kühn: “Mit allen Sinnen spüren. Jacques Herzog im Gespräch mit Sabine Kraft und Christian Kühn.” In: Sabine Kraft, Nikolaus Kuhnert, Günther Uhlig (Eds.). “Archplus. Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau. Architektur natürlich.” Vol. No. 142, Aachen, ARCH+ Verlag GmbH, 07.1998. pp. 32-39.
Helmut Federle: “Zur Zusammenarbeit von Maler und Architekt. On the Collaboration between Artist and Architect.” In: Kunsthaus Bregenz (Ed.). “Herzog & de Meuron. Sammlung Goetz.” Stuttgart, Gerd Hatje, 1995. (= Archiv Kunst Architektur. Werkdokumente). pp. 29-31.
Jacques Herzog: “Recent Work of Herzog & de Meuron.” In: Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (Ed.). “Columbia Documents of Architecture and Theory.” Vol. No. 4, New York, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, 1995. pp. 5-25.
Jacques Lucan: “Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst in München. Eine Maschine, um den Blick zu schärfen. Gallery for Contemporary Art in Munich. A Machine to Sharpen the Eye.” In: Kunsthaus Bregenz (Ed.). “Herzog & de Meuron. Sammlung Goetz.” Stuttgart, Gerd Hatje, 1995. (= Archiv Kunst Architektur. Werkdokumente). pp. 12-21.
Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Ernst Hubeli: “Das Selbe und das Besondere. Ein Gespräch mit Jacques Herzog und Pierre de Meuron, neuere Arbeiten.” In: Verlegergemeinschaft Werk, Bauen + Wohnen (Ed.). “Werk, Bauen + Wohnen. Formzwang, Freiheit der Form.” Vol. No. 10, Zurich, Bauen + Wohnen GmbH, 10.1993. pp. 14-31.
Martin Steinmann: “Le Possibilià di un Oggetto.” In: Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (Ed.). “Domus. Monthly Review of Architecture Interiors Design Art.” Vol. No. 747, Milan, Domus S.p.A., 03.1993. pp. 29-30.
Jacques Herzog, Moritz Küng: “Herzog & de Meuron. Arkitektur som Manipulationsobjekt. Architecture as Manipulation Object. En Samtale med Jacques Herzog. A Conversation with Jacques Herzog.” In: Henning Larsen, Flemming Frost, Kjeld Vindum (Eds.). “Skala. Nordisk Magasin for Arkitektur og Kunst. Nordic Magazine of Architecture and Art.” Vol. No. 29, Copenhagen, Henning Larsens Tegnestue A/S, 1993. pp. 18-26.