Radical and welcoming: a cooperative housing project in Basel

From the Lysbüchel-Süd district, once an industrial suburb of Basel, now undergoing deep transformation, comes a new story of experimentation in flexible, inclusive living through the Lyse-Lotte project, developed by Clauss Kahl Merz architects with the team at Martina Kausch architects. Switzerland has a long tradition of cooperatives and social housing rooted in early 20th century, and when this is confronted with contemporary urban transformations, it often generates examples that stand out and set a reference, as happened recently with Weinlager housing. And it is right around the Weinlager corner that Lyse-Lotte stands, aiming to write a new chapter in this story.

The building is described by the project team as a “collage” architecture, and this must be confirmed: it is conceived as a collage of dwelling types – therefore of ways of living, of different needs and economic situations – but also of structures, materials, and spaces that can be redefined and reassigned over time. A commercial space is combined with duplexes, flats that share an entrance, others that open onto a loggia; again, an old acquaintance of cooperative houses appears, i.e. jolly spaces and guest rooms, and above all a guest apartment that, together with a greenhouse, finds space on the roof. Like the greenhouse, many of the spaces in the building blur the boundaries of the individual units, making the place a shared habitat where each resident can seek both a community dimension and their own more intimate spaces.

The construction mirrors this open-collage philosophy in its aesthetics, exhibiting a metal frame, almost a plug-in system juxtaposed with the exposed concrete structure, combining with lighter metal elements, panelling on the façade, and the "parasite"-greenhouse. And the same happens with the interior, where a bright, welcoming, simple atmosphere is achieved from raw materials. And notoriously, simplicity is the hardest feature to design.

Outdoor spaces also blend with the interior and the structure, shifting from a common terrace to a meadow to smaller gardens, suggesting different uses and intensities as shrubs or grasses thicken or thin out, climbing up the uprights with climbing vegetation, juxtaposing trees with perennials and annuals so as to have a constantly changing chromatic landscape.