THe glass house description:
In the very heart of Klein Basel, a mass of concrete, in a hollow tooth, comes to be implanted in the district. Where, in the Middle Ages, the villagers' gardens took their place, the densification of the city gradually eliminated them. A sea of concrete and asphalt, Basel lacks public spaces, squares, parks, and urban infrastructure for the inhabitants. In addition, the few public spaces available to residents are all too often green.
The city of Basel, which is dynamic in a sense, does not have a place on its outskirts that offers the necessary distance for the cherished moments of contact with nature. We have taken on board the idea of the multiplication of the city's land. of the city not for private and speculative purposes but for public and common purposes, it is interesting to use this structure in the idea of producing a vertical public space extending the horizontal space of the street. Rich in space, this concrete monster, in an ideal location, offers the luxury of being able to respond to the need for non-speculative housing that the city is seeking. But then, is it concretely possible to realize it? A subtractive logic was then studied. How can the mass of this central parking lot be hollowed out to provide better light breakthroughs?
"The Glass house" is an attempt to answer this problem. By offering a park that is accessible all year round, the people of Basel will be able to take shelter from the weather as well as from the nuisances of the city. The public space on the roof has several features.
A planted belvedere, with 360° views of the city and of itself, this "botanical garden" will provide new premises for the Basel School of Economics, and will be shared by a housing cooperative, activated by the possibility of living under its vegetable garden. As for the public, they will gradually wander through the new Lur- ning Center. At its peak, as a new urban infrastructure, a papillorama. "The Green Point" remains connected to the street by a ramp penetrating the building and leading to a bar/restaurant as well as a climbing wall that runs the entire length.
