The urban architecture of tomorrow is being designed in Basel

Laba (Laboratory Basel) will open its doors on September 30, with about thirty scientists, PhD and Master students from Lausanne on board. From then on, it will be in this fine 14th century building that they will work on designing the city of tomorrow. They will also, spurred on by EPFL Professor Harry Gugger, winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennial International Architecture Exhibition, have to find an answer to a crucial question: How can one manage urban growth, while respecting human beings and the environment?

“Today, over 50% of the world’s population lives in cities. Urban growth must be controlled.” They will be debating this question with other famous architects, such as Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Roger Diener and Marcel Meili through the collaboration platform set up with Studio Basel, a satellite laboratory of ETH Zurich.

Urban development, a worldwide problem – which also affects Switzerland

When talking of rampant urbanization, we immediately think of the skyscrapers on the east coast of North America or the megacities of the Asian continent. Yet, as Harry Gugger points out, there’s no need to look that far. Switzerland – one of the world’s most densely populated countries – is a perfect open-air laboratory. “Each day, a significant part of our territory is sacrificed to accommodate urban development. The differences between town and country are gradually tending to fade away. Personally, I find that very sad.” What kind of urbanization do we actually want? The city on the Rhine provides the ideal setting for designing the cities of the future.

Basel, a meeting point for the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology

This EPFL laboratory will be located in the Ackermannshof, in the heart of the student district. In the immediate vicinity are Basel University, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, and Studio Basel, the ETHZ outpost devoted to architectural research.

A collaboration platform called Cerberus will be implemented with Studio Basel, with which Pritzker Prize winner Jacques Herzog is involved, among others. “By putting together Studio Basel and Laba, we shall reach a sound critical mass of scientists and students,” the architect explains. “Moreover, Basel is without doubt the architecture and urban design capital of Switzerland. In such a stimulating environment, we will be well equipped to create something extraordinary.”