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What are your interests? Would you like to see Basel's historic heart, explore its 19th c. neighbourhoods or have a look at contemporary architecture?
Here are some ideas - guided tours of the Münster and its historical surroundings, the Rathaus and the neighbourhood of medieval craftsmen, architecture on water canals in St.Alban-Tal, Jugendstil houses of the Paulus quarter, new architecture in the vicinity of the SBB train station, redevelopment of the formerly industrial Dreispitz area ... there are so many places and spaces, all over Basel, well worth your time! Contact [email protected] to discuss possible itineraries! For inspiration, here are some tour examples ....
ALONG THE RHEIN: MUSEUM TINGUELY TO KASERNE 
This 2-hour tour gives a feel for the way the city has developed on the northern side of the Rhine through time. From the former Solitude countryside estate we walk through the Roche complex, originally an industrial zone isolated from the city. Developed more recently as a state-of-the art corporate campus, well integrated within its urban surroundings, it has become one of Basel’s landmarks. We talk about new buildings on the campus and how Herzog & de Meuron have interpreted the company’s 1930s modernist identity in contemporary language. We also address the controversy related to the demand for the Refit-Reuse-Recycle approach to the older Roche buildings. Continuing our tour, we see how this concept was - or was not - applied in the past on the Warteck brewery, the Kartause monastery and the Klingental convent, the medieval Kleinbasel houses, as well as the military barracks of the Kaserne. We end the tour at the top of the southern tower of the Kaserne, with a bird’s-eye view of both Gross- and Kleinbasel.
FROM MEDIEVAL TO CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE: ST.ALBAN-TAL TO GELLERT 
This walk takes us through almost one thousand years of Basel’s history. We start just outside of what used to be the city’s inner defence walls, and continue through the picturesque St.Alban-Tal. Developed around St.Alban monastery in medieval times, and known historically for its water mills and silk ribbon manufacturing, this area was renovated about fourty years ago through historical reconstruction, formal reinterpretation, and modernist intervention. From St.Alban-Tor we continue to Gellert, a neighbourhood of grand villas and generous gardens laid out originally in the late 19 th century, when Basel began to expand to the open landscape extending beyond the city’s outer ring of walls. In the late 20 th century, however, may fin-de-siècle estates gave way to apartment complexes and office buildings. At the end of our tour we will see how one such development from the 1950s has been successufully reinterpreted by Herzog & de Meuron Architects: our walk will end at the Helvetia Campus, with the possibilty of having a lunch at the top floor of a high-rise completed earlier this year.
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ON THE CITY OUTSKIRTS:
BRUDERHOLZ
Separating the Birs and Birsig valleys, the Bruderholz uplands belong geographically to the southeastern part of the Sundgau hills. About two kilometres wide and five kilometres long, this gently undulating area rises to more than 100 meters above the valleys. Politically, the area is shared by several Basel-Land communities and by the city of Basel, which started to develop the northernmost part of Bruderholz as a residential neighbourhood at the very beginning of the 20th century.
This 2-hour tour takes us up the slopes extending southwards of the Gundeldingen neighbourhood, through the gently undulating Bruderholz uplands.
Our meeting point is on the terrace in front of the Margarethenkirche from where we have a good view of the city's skyline. During a short stroll through the large public park laid out in the late 19th c. on the grounds of an earlier ornamental farm, we talk about the area's 14th / 15th c. water castles as well as about the later development of the Gundeldingen neighbourhood.
Turning onto Unterer Batterieweg we continue uphill along winding residential streets characterised by early 20th century houses typical of the so-called Reform Architektur - laid out amidst large green areas, they bear witness to the first stages of the development of the Bruderholz neighbourhood.
Our walk continues along Bruderholz-Allee - we discuss its representational character and the typology of housing dating from various time periods. In addition to seeing some examples of Modernism, including sacral architecture of the late 1950s and the early 1960s, exemplified by the Bruder Klaus- and Tituskirche, we also address the importance of the water-supply infrastructure. The first reservoirs and filters built in the area date back to the first decade of the 20th century. Later on a water tower had to be built so as to meet the water demand of the area’s growing population. Visible from afar, the Bruderholz Wasserturm, built in 1926, has become the area’s landmark. The tour ends on the observation platform at the top of the tower, with a bird’s-eye-view of the city and its surroundings.
This 2-hour tour takes us up the slopes extending southwards of the Gundeldingen neighbourhood, through the gently undulating Bruderholz uplands.
Our meeting point is on the terrace in front of the Margarethenkirche from where we have a good view of the city's skyline. During a short stroll through the large public park laid out in the late 19th c. on the grounds of an earlier ornamental farm, we talk about the area's 14th / 15th c. water castles as well as about the later development of the Gundeldingen neighbourhood.
Turning onto Unterer Batterieweg we continue uphill along winding residential streets characterised by early 20th century houses typical of the so-called Reform Architektur - laid out amidst large green areas, they bear witness to the first stages of the development of the Bruderholz neighbourhood.
Our walk continues along Bruderholz-Allee - we discuss its representational character and the typology of housing dating from various time periods. In addition to seeing some examples of Modernism, including sacral architecture of the late 1950s and the early 1960s, exemplified by the Bruder Klaus- and Tituskirche, we also address the importance of the water-supply infrastructure. The first reservoirs and filters built in the area date back to the first decade of the 20th century. Later on a water tower had to be built so as to meet the water demand of the area’s growing population. Visible from afar, the Bruderholz Wasserturm, built in 1926, has become the area’s landmark. The tour ends on the observation platform at the top of the tower, with a bird’s-eye-view of the city and its surroundings.
BASEL AND ITS INNER GROWTH: NEIGHBOURHOODS IN TRANSITION
On the verge of a growth spurt: 113 hectares of opportunity
Basel plans on growing substantially until 2035. The number of inhabitants is to increase by 20,000, the number of jobs by 30,000. The eight areas Westfeld, Rosental Mitte, Volta Nord, Walkeweg, Dreispitz Nord, Wolf, Klybeckplus as well as Klybeck- and Westquai offer room for such development. A total of 113 hectares, or around 160 football pitches, are available.
Our Spring and Summer series of guided walks will explore areas undergoing the process of transition: from the underused industrial sites of the past to the newly planned, lively neighbourhoods of the future.
To find out more, contact [email protected]
Art Basel 2024
ARCHITECTURE TOURS OF THE CITY
ONE-HOUR ARCHITECTURE TOURS
If you do not have time to explore other parts of Basel, why not learn more about some of the neighbourhoods in which Art Basel and its satellite events take place?
If you do not have time to explore other parts of Basel, why not learn more about some of the neighbourhoods in which Art Basel and its satellite events take place?
MESSEPLATZ / CLARASTRASSE / REBGASSE
Art Basel / Art Parcours / Liste / ArtMeta
Art Basel / Art Parcours / Liste / ArtMeta
KLYBECK
Volta
Volta
To find out more and/or organise your own tour, contact [email protected]t
© 2024 architecture walks and talks