Business, science and art--a liaison Baloise: the Basel area, situated in the tri-country region where Switzerland, Germany and France come together, is not only international but also surprisingly innovative and chock-full of cultural attractions.
| Fonction | CANTON PROFILE - Company overview |
In 2006, the region gained not just one but two new institutions: the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland opened the new School of Life Sciences in Muttenz, and the ETH Zurich founded the Center for Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel, the first time in its 150-year history that the institution has a department outside of Zurich. The dense concentration of public and private research institutions in the Basel area form a network characterized by myriad formal and informal forms of contact and cooperation. This is the secret for the success of the Basel area.
Basel is well-known as a center of business--with global players such as Roche and Novartis as well as dynamic newcomers such as Actelion, Speedel and Basilea. Basel also has a long tradition as an artistic center, so it is not surprising that business and art are closely connected.
Basel as an artistic center
In 1919 Basel became the first canton in Switzerland to create a special fund to buy works of art. It is also the Swiss canton with the highest spending per capita on culture; the local population takes a vital interest in its city's cultural traditions. Where else would a referendum on the purchase of modern art pass? It happened in Basel-Stadt in 1967, when the electorate voted to acquire two valuable Picasso paintings for eight million Swiss francs. Part of the purchase was funded by donations from the inhabitants and part out of the cantonal budget. This so pleased Picasso, who was still alive at the time, that he spontaneously donated another four artworks to the city of Basel. The referendum was necessary because the aforementioned fund did not have the money to buy such valuable works.
In Basel, however, appreciation of the arts is not left entirely to the public sector. A growing number of private initiatives actively support art. Over the years, generous patrons in the Basel region have set up well-endowed private foundations. They have financed internationally famous museums such as the Tinguely Museum designed by Mario Botta, the Fondation Beyeler by Renzo Piano and the Schaulager by Herzog & de Meuron.
Architectural Basel
The names of these three prestigious architectural offices highlight the fact that the Basel region is a gold mine for lovers of architecture. You can hardly step outside without coming across some fascinating building. And new ones are constantly being added. For instance, Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-born London-based star...
Pour continuer la lecture
SOLLICITEZ VOTRE ESSAICOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
