Studio — Basel, Klybeck
A practice of few, deliberate moves.
Atelier Wettstein was founded in Basel in 2009, in a former printing works between the harbour and the railway. We have stayed in the neighbourhood ever since — most of our buildings are within an hour of the office, and we can visit every site by bicycle.
We work without a house style. What repeats is a method: walk the site, draw the section first, argue about the plan until it is obvious, and keep the details at 1:20 until the tender goes out. The buildings look different because the briefs, the ground, and the budgets are different.
The studio, Klybeckstrasse 141 — former printing works
Est. 2009
People
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Vera Wettstein
Founding partner, ETH Zürich
Marco Steiner
Partner, EPF Lausanne
Anaïs Roth
Associate, TU München
Tomás Keller
Associate, HEAD Genève
How we work
+Survey
Every project begins on foot. We measure the ground, the light, and the neighbours before we draw a single line.
Concept
The first move is a section, not a facade. Heights, spans, and structure are settled before appearances are discussed.
Development
Details are drawn at 1:20 before the tender goes out — surprises on site are a failure of drawings, not of trades.
Site
A partner is on site weekly until handover. We sign what we have seen, not what we have been sent.
Exhibitions & teaching
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