For the competition Housing Studio Basel on the Bruderholz near Basel, we proposed an organically shaped volume, which contained all the required apartments in one solitary gesture. This strategy exploited the unique potential of the large site and underlined its exceptional status in comparison with the small-grained structure of the surroundings. The formal language of the figure was not alien to the district, though, as it found its legitimization in the organically curved street network designed by Erwin Heman in 1913： its continuous lines had established the backbone to the idyllic garden-city environs, as the roads followed the topographic contours of the gently rising terrain. Our free, cross-shaped figure quietly recedes into the center of the parcel, while it manifests itself at the crossroads. Large open spaces embrace the building in a parklike manner and articulated a natural filter to the neighborhood. The basic figure's four intersecting arms were subdivided into the individual housing units following the primary bearing wall structure. This ensured that all apartments generously open onto two sides. A network of secondary spatial cells containing the more private rooms was integrated within the primary structure. The entire building was enveloped by an arcade-layer, which as a spatial buffer mediates between the inside and outside. Following the modular logic of the facade's subdivision, the outer grid of grey-white powder-coated steel columns should interact with the birch tree trunks of the garden. Wooden boards articulated the second, sensually warmer facade skin that responded to the inner, functional needs. The new building was to take shape in nature and yet be in a reserved manner sublime.
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