Just in time for Basel’s important Baselworld fair, the new hall complex of Messe Basel was inaugurated. Designed by the Basel-based architects Herzog & de Meuron, the new hall building changes the character of Basel’s exhibition site considerably. The exhibition square is now clearly delineated towards the city. The key architectural and urban-planning feature of Herzog & de Meuron’s new hall complex is the so-called City Lounge. This is a covered-over public space that is intended to revitalize the exhibition square. Referencing Messe Basel’s iconic “Rundhofhalle” (Hall 2, designed in the 1950s by Swiss architect Hans Hofmann), the City Lounge’s most striking feature is a huge hole that breaks through the new hall 1 and brings light to the space below. As always with Herzog & de Meuron’s designs, the facade is an essential element of the design. This time, it’s a facade of articulated twisting bands (aluminum). The two exhibition floors are also offset from each other, to avoid the “big box” effect.

Herzog & de Meuron Architects: Messe Basel New Hall. April 25, 2013.

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