24.11.2018 - 05.05.2019

Dichtelust - Forms of Urban Coexistence in Switzerland

Developed with support from the Basel City Cantonal Department of Construction and Transport.  

In Switzerland, the concept of density has noticeably negative connotations. In Swiss political debates on urban development and land-use planning, density is often used as a discursive weapon, conjuring up terrible visions of "built up" cities and horrific scenarios with high-rise buildings "overrunning" the evolved city centres. This negative image has to be corrected. The exhibition will demonstrate what density actually means, namely sensible utilisation of buildable territory. One of the central questions is that of how density specifically materialises in the city. This is because density does not automatically mean building "upwards" but, first and foremost, compactly. Used properly, density is also the best means of preventing proximity stress.

The exhibition and the publication is supported by:

Sulger-Stiftung
Stiftung Mercator Schweiz
HIAG
Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Bau- und Verkehrsdepartement des Kantons Basel-Stadt
Christoph Merian Stiftung

S AM Supporters:
Abteilung Kultur des Kantons Basel-Stadt
Bundesamt für Kultur BAK

S AM Sponsors:
ComputerWorks AG
Zumtobel Licht AG
Truninger AG

S AM Partners:
SIA Schweizerischer Ingenieur und Architektenverein
Levante Software
Karl Bubenhofer AG

S AM Media Partner:
Transhelvetica

Accompanying Programme

23.11.2018, 7 pm
Opening

6.12.2018, 7 pm
Lecture in German: "The Deal: Costs and Benefits of Density"
Dipl. Ing. Tanja Herdt and Sibylle Wälty, ETH CASE
Place: Baudepartement, Dufourstrasse 40/50, Basel
Admission: CHF 12 (red. CHF 8)

13.12.2018, 24.1., 7.2, 28.2, 2.5.2019 at 6 pm
Public guided tours in German, except for 7.2.2019 (in English)
Admission: CHF 12 (red. CHF 8), tour free

18.1.2019, 6 pm - 2 am
Museum Night: "Lustvoll"- guided tours and hands-on activities, 7-11pm

31.1., 21.2., 21.3., 4.4.2019, at 12.15 am
Area developments in Basel South (Dreispitz and SBB railway station), Basel East (Messe and Roche), Basel North-West (Basel North and Westfeld), Basel North-East (Klybeck and Port/3Land)
Place: Baudepartement, Dufourstrasse 40/50, Basel
Language: German
Admission: free

13.2.2019, 10 am - 12 pm
Wednesday-Matinée at S AM
Language: German
Admission: CHF 10 (red. CHF 5)

28.3.2019, 7 pm
Lecture: Densification as a Collective Process
Matias Echanove (urbz) and Lukas Gruntz, architect
Place: Baudepartement, Dufourstrasse 40/50, Basel
Admission: CHF 12 (red. CHF 8)

11.4.2019,7 pm
Panel discussion with the Federation of Swiss Architects (FSA) Basel on cooperative housing developments in Basel
Place: Baudepartement, Dufourstrasse 40/50, Basel
Language: German
Admission: CHF 12 (red. CHF 8)

Upcoming exhibitions

19.09.2026 - 03.01.2027

Tony Fretton: Practice

Opening: 18/9/2026, 7 PM

The S AM Swiss Architecture Museum is proud to announce PRACTICE, a retrospective exhibition of selected projects of architect Tony Fretton (b. 1945, London). He established Tony Fretton Architects in London in 1984, which ran until 2024. His published texts on architecture are numerous, and he has taught extensively, including as Chair of Interiors Buildings and Cities at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft, and as guest professor at GSD Harvard, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne. He lives and works in London.

Fretton’s buildings and projects are presented at S AM through texts, photographs and drawings. Together, they show Fretton’s practice as continuity of reflection on the existing environment, including the social, cultural and political dimensions of the city and what lies outside it.