Residential Quality and Urbanity: Baumgartner Houses in Basel

Between 1926 and 1938, the construction development company Baumgartner & Hindermann built around 300 apartment buildings in Basel, grouped in five quarters that form a ring around the city center. They are still known in Basel today as the “Baumgartner Houses”. People appreciate their natural urban integration and the high quality of living provided by their well proportioned, polyvalent rooms and solid building materials.

This detailed documentation proves that en-trepreneurial motives and rationalization of the design and construction processes are not inimical to good architecture. This series of apartment blocks is still exemplary by today’s standards; though it consciously pursued “mediocrity”, it ultimately achieved an advanced expression of urbanity and quality.

• The only comprehensive monograph on the Baumgartner houses in Basel
• Now republished in its third edition: historical documentation of a series of successful apartment buildings
• Still setting standards today in terms of residential quality and urbanity