The project Zasamane was awarded first prize in the competition for the new building to house the Museum of Natural History Basel and the State Archives Basel-City. This unique storehouse of information, which in the future will combine knowledge about nature and culture, takes the form of a staggered, elongated building with a tall, slender tower that provides an urban symbol for both institutions. Nevertheless, the two individual identities are of central importance strong spaces will create distinct addresses for both functions and make each of them clearly recognizable. The principle of adding and layering forms a general leitmotif that can be recognized externally and is continued in the interior structure of spaces. It is planned to begin the erection of new building in 2018.
By bringing together the State Archives and the Museum of Natural History at a single location a unique information storehouse is created. The elongated site along the railway is occupied by a series of building volumes placed next to each other. The tall, slender tower provides an urban symbol for both institutions. The principle of adding and layering serves as a leitmotif that is recognisable from outside and is continued in the internal structure of spaces. A generously sized entrance hall strengthens the joint presence of both institutions, but the question of the individual identities is of central importance to the design: both functions are made clearly recognisable and perceptible by the way in which spaces are unambiguously allocated within the overall system. The State Archives extends along the entire length of the building in the form of a glazed top floor. The rooms of the museum are on the floors below. Through the concept of a twin-storey, wide-spanning shelf the idea of the museum as a storehouse of knowledge is translated into a concrete physical and architectural structure.
