Basel Invests in Art & Architecture

Cultural riches
Prosperous Swiss city invests in art and architecture
ERIC CONVEY
19 February 2006

BASEL, Switzerland - Watches. Secret bank accounts. Cheese with holes. Chocolate that's to die for. That's what this country is famous for.

But in this city along the hilly banks of the Rhine River, another commodity is far more visible: science. And success in that field has led to another attraction: art and architecture.

Basel is profoundly shaped by its life sciences industry and by the cultural treasures it has brought.

Nestled hard up against France and Germany, Basel is home today to many of the world's biggest pharmacology concerns, including Novartis - which has its world research headquarters in Cambridge (Basel thinks of Boston as a sister city) - and Roche.

Striking architecture, especially of the modern variety, is most visible in the sprawling campuses of the pharmaceutical companies.

The Novartis campus, for instance, is high above the river. A former manufacturing site, it has grown into a sprawling complex of offices, and is still growing. Executives expect to double the 5,000- person work force over the next 10 to 15 years. The exterior walls of the modern glass structure are decorated with translucent panels that transform the building itself into a work of art. Sculpture animates the grounds.

When you explore the city's history you begin to understand the intellectual underpinnings that allowed the rise of the pharmaceutical industry.

In the mid-1400s, Catholic and Orthodox Christians held one of the many councils of the era in Basel. Like their modern counterparts, the scholars needed paper. That spawned a printing and book trade industry that thrived here for hundreds of years.

In 1529, the Reformation hit Basel and the city became officially Protestant. Hugenots arrived soon after and brought with them silk- dyeing skills. Colored ribbons were the specialty. The city's richly decorated cathedral dates to this time.

The leaps from manufacturing pigments to manufacturing chemicals to producing drugs were not big ones.

All the work with chemicals took its toll on this stretch of the Rhine, but the river was cleaned up years ago. As one local explained, the river used to smell, but "Now you can swim in it."

Several bridges span the river in Basel, but driving across is the boring way. Far more fun is to ride one of the small boats that are attached to cables and slowly propelled along by the river's current, as they have been for more than 100 years.

A number of residences, ranging from 15th century houses to 19th century mansions, line the roads high above the river. And they can be viewed on riverboat tours that run the Rhine and back. The trips last several hours and offer views of the countryside as well.

A significant portion of the wealth generated in Basel over the years went into institutions dealing with the visual arts. (For all those left-brainers, the thriving arts scene, painting and sculpture in particular, keeps the right brain firing.)

There are dozens of museums in town. The link of art and industry is no more obvious than at the Tinguely Museum, an extraordinarily fun expanse of sculptures at the Roche Headquarters. (When's the last time you stopped by a U.S. corporate headquarters to examine the company's art collection?).

Other must-dos for art lovers are Foundation Beyeler museum on the outskirts of the city and the Kunstmuseum Basel downtown.

Unlike most museums, the Foundation Breyeler is the kind of place an art aficionado and a novice can enjoy equally. Getting there by street car is easy and the pleasant grounds and stunning ship- shaped building designed by Renzo Piano, justify the trip, as do the world-class special exhibitions. The 200-piece permanent collection (once a private collection) includes Cezanne, Picasso, Rousseau, Mondrian, Klee, Matisse and more.

The expansive Kunstmuseum is the city's impressive museum of fine arts. Highlights include works from 1400 to 1600 and from the 19 th and 20th centuries including Cubism (Picasso et al) and post-1950s American art (Warhol et al). The courtyard boasts Rodin and Caldor and inside you will also find works by such names as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Klee and Giacometti.

As big as art is year-round in Basel, it all but consumes the city each summer for the annual Art Basel (for information about this year's event, June 14-18, log on to www.artbasel.com ). International artists numbering more than 2,000 as well as dealers, patrons and fans come to town for this World's Fair of the arts world.

Basel's residents really cut loose for the annual Carnival, Fasnacht, featuring elaborate, costumed, all-night street celebrations, this year March 6-8 (more at www.fasnachts-comite.ch/ english.html).

The city's hospitality industry is first class and the industrious yet friendly locals make visitors feel at home. The Swissotel Le Plaza Basel (winter rates are from about $190 per night; www.swissotel.com ) served up a comfortable guest room that included a small table, chair and drawing supplies for our 2-year- old.

In this prosperous city shopping is first-class, too. And there are numerous fun surprises tucked away. We found one shoe store, for instance, with a children's slide that runs from the ground floor to the basement. And of course there is no shortage of chocolate shops, with delicious fare ranging from the inexpensive to the exotic. (Bad Swiss chocolate, it turns out, is better than good American chocolate. And great Swiss chocolate is out of this world.)

Like any Swiss city, Basel has plenty of restaurants that give meat - beef especially - prominence on their menus. But many also offer a good variety of vegetable dishes, even vegetarian options. Fondue is a must-do here. Meal prices cover a broad range, with a very nice dinner for two costing about $100 before wine.

In part because English is the dominant language in modern science, and also because Switzerland like most European countries takes language instruction for children seriously, moving through Basel is easy for an American. (When English failed, the remnants of high school French proved adequate.) A convenient and clean tram system, meanwhile, made moving around a breeze.

For more information, go to www.baseltourismus.ch .>