The BSS on the Schällemätteli campus in Basel makes science visible. As the new home of the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, it creates transparency, promotes exchange, and breaks down the boundaries between research, the city, and the public.
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Completion: 2023
In collaboration with: Dreicon AG
Client: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Photos: Achim Birnbaum
The compact volume blends into the urban fabric and connects the surrounding institutions to form a lively campus. A public passageway runs through it, turning the BSS into an urban passageway that brings science to life.
Open staircases, permeable facades, and the spacious atrium with its 20 x 35 m glass dome create places for people to meet and talk. The “house-within-a-house” concept allows for flexible work and communication zones where interdisciplinary teams can come together and new ideas can emerge.
Visible research becomes an expression of a new attitude: architecture as a medium of knowledge that sheds light on the work of researchers and promotes dialogue between people, cities, and science.
