The extension of the Museum of Cultures in Basel by H&deM

After more than two years, the Museum of Cultures in the center of Basel has been reopened. The complete reconstruction and the prominent extension were designed by the local office Herzog & de Meuron, which engaged in fierce battles with Swiss "protectors of the homeland" over the design. The main part of the museum consists of a neoclassical building of the ethnographic museum located in Basel's oldest square, Münsterplatz. The historical building, constructed in 1849, is the work of the significant Swiss architect Melchior Berri. It is also the oldest museum building in the German-speaking area of Switzerland, which was expanded in 1917 with an additional courtyard wing due to the growing collections. The project for the museum extension by H&deM features an enormously protruding and expressively arranged roof extension, which will offer additional exhibition spaces in the attic. In addition to its form, the roof will attract attention with its unusual material and color, which stand in stark contrast to the surrounding heritage-listed buildings. All surfaces of the complex roof landscape are clad in green-black hexagonal ceramic tiles. The main entrance to the museum has also been newly conceived, which was previously shared with the natural history museum. The former rear courtyard has thus been transformed into a new representative entrance to the museum.

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