OPEN HOUSE BASEL - ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL

COME ON IN!

Open House Basel offers insights behind otherwise closed doors! Who wouldn't want to take a look inside a private house whose doors are normally closed to strangers? Is it conceivable to visit one of Basel's most important architectural monuments such as the BLUE AND WHITE HOUSE, the HEILMITTELLABOR in Arlesheim or the pioneering LENA residential project? The "Open House Basel - Architecture for All" association and its many helpers make these wishes possible.

OPEN HOUSE BASEL opens the doors of the most fascinating buildings in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt as well as in Dornach and in Germany and France close to the border. opens the doors of the most fascinating buildings in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt as well as in Dornach and in Germany and France close to the border. Visitors have the opportunity to explore architectural landmarks and hidden gems that are otherwise only accessible to the public to a limited extent. They can talk directly to architects, residents and users of the buildings. An opportunity for everyone to take a look behind the façades of 115 buildings, rediscover the greater Basel area and experience the diversity of how people work and live here.

ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL

Open House Basel offers everyone the opportunity to discover and experience architecture - regardless of age, origin, education or income. Because architecture affects us all. It shapes and changes our society and has an impact on the way we live, work and move. OPEN HOUSE BASEL thus contributes to raising public awareness and promotes dialog between experts and laypeople. The visits, guided tours and supporting events are free of charge for all participants.

WHAT IS SHOWN

The focus of the program is on contemporary architecture with a considerable number of residential buildings and buildings with a public impact such as the ROCHE BÜROHOCHHAUS BAU2, the BIOZENTRUM with its chrome steel façade in the "Schällemätteli" area, the CoDeck - an office building from the 1960s that has been converted into living and music rooms, the GLOBUS DACHGARTEN, whose redesign thematizes the building's location at the foot of the Münsterhügel as terraced roof gardens, and the LYSP8 building in Lysbüchel with 27 affordable apartments. Built as a timber construction, the materials used follow the principle of "design to disassembly". Around 30 re-used components were given a second life in various constructions.

The selection of buildings also focuses on important development areas such as Lysbüchel or Erlenmatt, which reflect the changes to the urban space. In addition, there are many award-winning residential buildings, clever conversions, hidden courtyard buildings and listed trouvailles to discover, which are exemplary of the careful further development of the greater Basel area.

Thematic focal points from the program are presented under SELEKTION, which can also be selected using the online filter function. The "Housing cooperatives" (16 buildings) provide impetus for sustainable urban development with innovative housing models. In the "formative conversions" (8 buildings), the TRANSFORMATION OF A LAGERGEBÄUDES shows an example of how new living space is created and the new headquarters of CMS illustrates what "inspiring timber buildings" (9 buildings) can achieve.

PLAN AN INDIVIDUAL TOUR

You can get an overview of the varied program via the gallery, the city map or the timetable. Click on the building image to find opening times, guided tours and additional information on the individual buildings, as well as links to Google Maps that take you directly to your destination. Registered users can mark their favorites using various filters and plan an individual tour. If you then call this up on your smartphone, it is child's play to get to your favorite places.

An overview and further information on all buildings can be found at https://openhouse-basel.org/orte/. Please note that certain tours have a limited number of places and reservations are required for individual buildings.

SUPPORTING PROGRAM OPEN HOUSE PLUS+

The supporting program "Open House Basel PLUS+" pursues a broad-based architectural discourse - on the Open House Basel weekend, in the week before as well as during the year! This platform is used by a wide variety of players to highlight current issues and promote dialog together with Open House Basel. The wide range of activities on offer, such as bike tours, walks, talks and exhibitions, explore individual topics in greater depth. 15 events will take place from April 29 - May 10, 2026. An overview with information on registration, some of which is required, can be found at https://openhouse-basel.org/plus-programm/

ARCHITECTURE FOR FAMILIES

With "Open House Kids", the architecture experience also becomes an entertaining family outing: children can fill out collection cards at the buildings, develop their creativity in workshops and then take part in the prize draw. The aim is to get young participants interested in architecture in a fun way. More information: https://openhouse-basel.org/info/kids/

MEDIA SERVICE

Building photos, texts, banners and printed materials are available on our website: https://openhouse-basel.org/info/medienservice

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.