LAGO105

Basel, Switzerland

Art + Installation + Exhibition

Architects: GRUNER&FRIENDS

Location: Freie Strasse, Basel, Switzerland
Year: 2022
Client: StadtKonzeptBasel

Located in the center of Basel, in the old main post office building, Lago105 is a mere example of how adaptive reuse can be illustrated at its finest. Once a department store from the middle ages which was built in 1376, the old main office building is a pure landmark of Basel, that signifies the city's early dates of trade and merchandise.

The passageway of the main post office between Freie Strasse and Gerbergasse was not a place where one would have wanted to spend time voluntarily in recent years if it had been open to the public. Originally, it used to smell of horse manure here; mail coaches drove back and forth transporting people, letters, and packages. This has changed, where the previously functional, gloomy room was transformed into a blue lagoon. The space is meant to be reminiscent of the Birsig River, which runs just below the passage, connecting the below with the above, just as Freie Strasse and Gerbergasse are now connected again.

The pop-up bar is revolving around an all-chrome elliptic bar, with a 3-dimensional sculpture hanging above it, by the Basel-based artist Stefan Ebner. The space is meant to be a hanging-out spot for residents and tourists of Basel City, where they can escape the busy city life and relax in a mesmerizing urban node. Lago105 is not just the usual bar or eatery but acts as an urban corridor, activated within its natural urban context.