Eurovison host Basel: Just a dull pharma industry hub with some art?

Yahoo

10-05-2025

It all begins at the Joggelihalle, as locals call the St Jakobshalle – an iconic example of 1970s Brutalism in Switzerland.
With its exposed concrete, sharp lines and overhanging roof, this venue in the outskirts of Basel is set to provide a stark contrast to the screaming colours and flaming-piano pyrotechnics of the Eurovision Song Contest when it plays host from May 10-17.
Its cold concrete and unwelcoming facade is representative of why, to many travellers heading south to Italy or onwards to the Swiss Alps, it's easy to simply speed through without giving this city a second glance.
After all, Basel's industrial legacy still looms large. With a long history as a centre for textiles and chemicals industries, the city is often associated with an industrial skyline, grey highways and smoking chimneys.
But Basel's image is being redefined. The Rhine River, once tainted by industry, is now even clean enough to swim in.
Cleaning up a grubby image
Yves Parrat, chemist with the local health department, says that the water quality is regularly checked at three different points during the bathing season.
The city has designated swimming areas, including near the Tinguely Museum.
You can also borrow waterproof bags, called Wickelfisch, from the tourist information centre if you want to take a dip in the river.
First-time visitors to the city centre may be surprised by its medieval charm, with historic buildings that offer a window into the past.
The striking red-painted façade of the town hall is a standout landmark, while the view from the "Pfalz" terrace at the nearby cathedral (Basler Münster) provides a stunning panorama the river, where the Rhine takes a bend east toward Lake Constance.
While Basel is a global powerhouse in the pharmaceutical industry, it's also home to some of the most iconic office and laboratory buildings.
Basel is widely regarded as Switzerland's architectural capital. According to the city's marketing team, Basel and its surroundings boast 13 winners of the Pritzker Prize, a prestigious international award for architects.
Switzerland's tallest building: A modern marvel
Surprising to many, Switzerland's tallest building isn't found in Zurich or Bern, but in Basel along the banks of the Rhine River.
Standing at 205 metres, Roche Tower 2, a twin-tower office complex for the pharmaceutical giant Roche, replaced the original Roche Tower as the country's tallest in 2022.
Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the tower is just a stone's throw from the river promenade and nestled near Basel's historic workers' housing estates.
Novartis, Roche's main competitor, has a campus that reads like a who's who of international architecture. Alongside Herzog & de Meuron, architects like Frank Gehry, Richard Serra, SANAA, and local firm Diener & Diener have left their mark on the city's skyline.
In Basel, industry, art, and architecture converge, and visitors will also find a vibrant museum scene, with institutions like the Swiss Architecture Museum. The city, Switzerland's third-largest, is home to over 200,000 residents from nearly 170 nations.
Art enthusiasts will find plenty to explore, including the Museum Tinguely, located right next to Roche's headquarters.
The museum, designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta, celebrates the work of Jean Tinguely, a Basel artist known for creating huge machine sculptures from scrap metal whose sole purpose is to have no purpose.
Sponsorship from the pharmaceutical industry and banks
On Cathedral Hill, the Barfüsserkirche houses the Basel Historical Museum, offering a deep dive into the city's cultural heritage at the crossroads of Switzerland, Germany and France.
Just a short walk away, the opulent Kunstmuseum combines old and new architecture, with a 100-million-Swiss-franc underground extension.
The museum showcases masterpieces from old masters like Holbein, Rembrandt and Rubens, to modern icons such as Gauguin, van Gogh, Picasso, Lichtenstein and Warhol - an impressive collection made possible by generous sponsorship from the pharmaceutical and banking industries.
For those with an industrial romantic streak, Basel's Dreispitz area just outside the city centre is a must-see.
Once home to the city's bonded warehouses, this now vibrant district hosts a dynamic mix of studios, universities, architecture firms and museums.
Among them is the House of Electronic Arts (HEK), exploring the social impact of new media and digital art, and the Kunsthaus Baselland, which opened in 2024.
It's a hidden gem that some Eurovision fans and travellers speeding past on the motorway might not expect to find.