Messe Basel's Twisted Aluminum

John Hill

13. May 2013

Photo: Iwan Baan

On April 25, the new Messe Basel building opened its doors for Baselworld, the World Watch and Jewelry Show, what is the driving force behind the new three-story addition designed by Herzog & de Meuron. With its top two floors perched above a glass base and straddling a roadway, the aluminum cladding attracts the most attention. Rippling across three elevations, the metal bands separate in some areas to admit light and hint at the exhibition spaces behind.

Photo: Iwan Baan

The aluminum cladding looks like it is made up of large sheets that are cut to create the openings of varying degrees, but in fact there are 15,000 panels that comprise the facades and the oculus that cuts through the building over the roadway to create "City Lounge." Novelis is responsible for the fabrication of the aluminum cladding, with anodizing of their J57S panels (PDF link) handled by BWB.

Photo: Courtesy of MCH Group

The three-dimensional nature of the skin is most apparent in the below view from the interior looking to the street. The aluminum ribbons, flush with the facade in most areas, is almost perpendicular here, giving a clear view of the context and keeping the convention center from being totally closed off from its surroundings.