Thesis title:
Apparatus. New Life Science Campus for Basel University
Date of discussion:
October 2020
Students:
Amir Sheykhan, Jonathan Zisser
Professors of the Studio:
Francesca Battisti (Architectural Design)
Grigor Angjeliu (Structural Design)
Lavinia Chiara Tagliabue (Technology and design in BIM Environment)
Francesco Romano (Building Services Design)
Giovanni Dotelli (Innovative Materials for Architecture)
Abstract:
The thesis is a theoretical and design exploration of the essential issues, both conceptual and technical, that the proposal for the final compound of Basel University’s Life Science Campus implies and reveals. Outside the historic center, the City pursued a growth strategy based on “clusters”, where the world’s leading science companies gathered and created optimal environments for research and production. Aa part of the “Apparatus” of campuses in the Canton of Basel, the new Life-Science Campus is expected to provide the university with new lab facilities for the Chemistry, Physics and Anatomy departments. An in-depth study throughout the history of institutional “Campuses Architecture” and the typologies of scientific research laboratories has led to the proposal of a traditional Quadrangle for the future campus. Reinterpreting the morphology of the Quadrangle, four individual elements embrace a symbolic court that completes the current Campus and redefines its urban relationships.
Two Laboratories ‘Temples’ are constructed by a system of Vierendeel trusses over each floor, creating spacious laboratories without any support, leaving space for building services and transforming the future facilities into an efficient “research machine”. At the heart of the new urban complex, the Library hovers above the ground as a monument to knowledge. Finally, the central building for the common facilities weaves the whole into a unique architectonic entity.