Here are two projects in Basel, Switzerland that use metal as the dominant material to wrap the building. They are very different size buildings, use different types of metal (copper vs. aluminum), and deploy a louver system in different ways, but both use lines and form to achieve a brilliant, variegated effect. Both buildings are situated in highly urban areas and facilitate train traffic. Both buildings seem to express more their relationship with the with their urban context, and less their inner workings.

I am very drawn to the rhythm that both of these projects posess through the use of serial lines that shift across the building faces. The cladding systems are both sophisticated, but where Messe Platz is more advanced in its complexity it lacks the richness that the Signal Box has in it patinated copper. Also, if you look close in some of the photos of the Signal Box you can see that a net has been suspended over parts of the louvered skin to prevent birds from perching inside the gaps. This is the risk of rain screens where apertures in exterior cladding (chinks in the armor) can result in an unforeseen, undesirable consequences.

119 Central Signal Box - 1999

Messe Platz Convention Center - 2014