Swiss Architecture Museum, Architecture museum in Basel, Switzerland
The Swiss Architecture Museum is an art museum in Basel that focuses on building designs, models, and photographs. It presents contemporary and historical works through rotating exhibitions that explore how architecture has developed over time.
Founded in 1984 as a foundation, the Architecture Museum AM first occupied four floors of the Domus house, built in 1958 by the Rasser and Vadi firm and one of Basel's rare 1950s modern buildings. It moved into the Kunsthalle Basel in 2004 and was renamed S AM Swiss Architecture Museum in 2006, with a mandate to cover architecture across all of Switzerland. Founding director Ulrike Jehle-Schulte Strathaus led it until 2006.
The museum reveals how buildings and design choices shape the way people live and move through cities. The exhibitions show what stands out in everyday surroundings and explain the thinking behind the structures visitors pass through daily.
The museum occupies premises inside the Kunsthalle Basel, so visitors enter through the Kunsthalle building rather than a separate address. Exhibitions are temporary and change regularly, with lectures, talks, workshops and guided tours held alongside them. Check which exhibition is running before setting out.
The museum began in 1984 as the Architekturmuseum AM, occupying four floors of the Domus house, a 1958 building by the Rasser and Vadi firm and one of Basel's few 1950s modern structures. It moved into the Kunsthalle Basel in 2004 and took the name S AM in 2006.
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