Basel 2018

Part 1: A weekend in Basel

I’d flown via Basel to visit a local music festival in France (Les Eurockéennes), so it seemed a good place to stop off for a few days. Like most things Swiss, it runs very well - transport was easy, and there’s plenty to do.

If there’s one thing everyone should do in Basel it’s to swim in the Rhine. Without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever done. You put all your belongings in a dry bag, jump in upstream, and then float towards the city centre. There’s lots of places to get out and have a beer whilst you dry off. The water was warm (ish!) and crystal clear. I plan to go back to Basel just so I can have this amazing experience again. I was slightly nervous putting my dslr and passport in the dry-bag, but they were fine.

Basel has a great collection of museums to explore. They’re also rather pricey. I bought a museums pass (hint: cheaper in nearby Germany) to get access to the lot for the next year. It worked out about the same as buying tickets for just the places I was interested in, but this way I got to go to other museums I wouldn’t have otherwise visited, and hundreds more in Switzerland, Germany, and France are included too.

In two days I visited:

• Kunstmuseum Basel
• Vitra campus
• Vitra Design Museum
• Fondation Beyeler
• Museum Tinguely
• Historical Museum
• Museum Tinguely (again!)
• Basel paper museum
• Pharmacy museum
• Anatomical museum
• Swiss Architecture museum
• Kunstmuseum Basel (different building)

The Basel Historical museum had various dioramas of the type I remember seeing in natural history museums of my childhood. What stood out for me were the displays they’d set up showing how they construct the dioramas. Including various models in different stages of completion.

The paper museum was an unexpected delight. I wish I’d had more time to explore. It covers paper-making, printing, binding, and so much more. As a type geek it was great to see their collection of movable type machines and other printing presses.

The Kunstmuseum’s facade signage worked brilliantly. Subtle, yet strong enough to read in bright sunlight. Read more about it here.

Part 2: Museum Tinguely

Jean Tinguely grew up in Basel, and as a result you can come across his sculptures all across the city, with a dedicated museum in the east of the city. It was my standout museum of the many I visited.

The museum is a perfect stop before a short walk to the river and a swim down the Rhine.

The museum has a great collection of exhibits, many of them interactive. Big buttons adorn the floor letting you animate them in unexpected ways. I also have to give great credit to the staff - who were super friendly and encouraged people to explore / take photos / point out things they’d miss. It must be quite a zoo when school kids are visiting.

Museum Tinguely had a temporary exhibit by Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger. A mix of hallucinogenic displays and interactive experiences. It reminded me of some of the weirder bits of Secret Cinema.

Part 3: Walking the Rehberger way

A half hour outside Basel lies the Vitra Campus. It’s part factory, part museum, part showroom. Between there and Basel you can walk the Rehberger Way - a pleasant walk following the countryside and dotted with 24 sculptures.

Be wary visiting Vitra’s showroom - you’ll end up lusting after far too many things you don’t need.

The Rehberger Way made for a lovely afternoon walk. Modernist, brightly coloured, angular. It’s a pity they don’t credit the artists involved on the website.