Herzog & de Meuron
Competition
1994
Project
1995
Realization
1998-1999

The new main Signal Tower is situated in the railroad yards at the southeast bank of the bridge, MuenchensteinerbrĂŒcke. Being as close to the street as an apartment or office building, it relates as much to the city as it does to the railroad yards. Thanks to its object-like character, the building is spatially linked to the other solitary buildings that characterize this disparate urban area.

But the new main Signal Tower is also within sight of the recently completed Signal Box 4, located in “auf dem Wolf“ in a section of the railroad yards separated from the neighborhood streets of the city. The similarity of structure and the copper strips wrapped around both buildings underscore their spatial relationship. They form a pair that could later be expanded into a group.

Now completed, Signal Box 4 has been so well optimized that it has become a prototype that can be erected, like a standardized structure, in all the urban regions of Switzerland. The use of such a similar structure throughout Switzerland would dovetail with a vision of the country as one single urban landscape.

Although the design of the main Signal Tower is the same as that of Signal Box 4, it is different in appearance due to its location on a trapezoidal, almost triangular, plot of land between the railroad tracks. The ground plan evolves from bottom to top into a rectangle. The copper strips cover the steps in the façade so that it becomes difficult to read the building‘s geometrical shape. It evokes something more organic and vulnerable, like a head or a brain, rather than a piece of technical equipment.

Herzog & de Meuron, 1998

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Process

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Towards the street, the copper strips are cut off from the strip windows, taking back the monolithic character of the building and introducing a human scale.

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The signal box amidst the tracks and cables in front of Basel’s main station.

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With its movement, the signal box takes up the turn of the bridge in its immediate vicinity.

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The signal box rises above the tracks with its increasing volume.

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Drawings

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Team

Project Team
Philippe FĂŒrstenberger (Project Architect)

Facts

Client
Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (Anlagen Management)
Planning
General Planning: ARGE, Herzog & de Meuron, Proplaning AG, Basel, Switzerland
Architect Planning: Herzog & de Meuronn, Basel, Switzerland
Construction Management: : Proplaning AG, Basel, Switzerland
Structural Management: Proplaning AG, Basel, Switzerland
HVAC Engineering: Silzer Energieconsulting AG, Liestal, Switzerland
Electrical Engineering: Selmoni AG, Basel, Switzerland
Plumbing Engineering: Balduin Weisser AG, Basel, Switzerland
Specialist / Consulting
Facade Consulting: Tecton AG, Pratteln, Switzerland
Building Data
Footprint: 3'390 sqft, 315 sqm
Length: 82 ft, 25 m
Width: 45 ft, 14 m

Bibliography

Gerhard Mack, Herzog & de Meuron: “Herzog & de Meuron 1992-1996. The Complete Works. Volume 3.” Edited by: Gerhard Mack. Chinese ed. Beijing, China Architecture & Building Press, 2010. Vol. No. 3.

Fernando MĂĄrquez 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 CosmĂ©tica.” 2nd adv. and rev. ed. Vol. No. 60+84, Madrid, El Croquis, 2005.

Nobuyuki Yoshida (Ed.): “Architecture and Urbanism. Herzog & de Meuron 1978-2002.” Tokyo, A+U Publishing Co., Ltd., 02.2002.

“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 MĂŒller, 2005.