LEADERSHIP
HW
WHY IS THAT?
HW
IT’S BEEN SAID THAT YOU ONCE
CONVINCED JOSEPH BEUYS TO
DESIGN SUBJECTS AND COSTUMES
FOR YOUR CARNIVAL GROUP. IS
THIS REALLY TRUE?
"HERZOG DE MEURON IS A PROJECT FOR US JUST
LIKE EVERY BUILDING PROJECT. WITH THE DIFFER-
ENCE THAT IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED."
HW
AND YOU MADE FUN OF IT.
PdeM
Yes, but not of the city that
bought the artwork, rather the
people that were upset. We
knew Beuy’s work and found
this “I could do this” attitude,
which was used against him,
completely uncalled for. We
gathered our courage and called
him. He immediately invited
us, two 27 year olds, to Düssel-
dorf-Niederkassel.
HW
WHAT? WHY?
PdeM
I think he was fascinated by the
relationship between the Celtic
origins of Carnival and sham-
anism. He also found it inter-
esting that people were dealing
with art at Carnival, which
would normally never happen.
When we were with him he ex-
plained to us: My art does not
belong in a museum, rather on
the street. But insurance-wise
this was not possible and with
his consent we created an exact
replica of his artwork. For three
days during Carnival Feuer-
stätte I was hauled through the
streets of Basel. And on the last
night Beuys personally de-
livered it to the museum.
HW
EVEN THOUGH YOU CONTINUE
TO BUILD AROUND THE WORLD,
YOU STILL LIVE IN YOUR HOMET-
OWN OF BASEL. WHY?
PdeM
Basel, with its bridge over the
Rhine, has always been a
thorough fare city from north to
south, which has lead to lively
exchanges. Basel established the
fi rst university in Switzerland
and has always been a research
city. The mindset of researchers
is something completely differ-
ent from the mindset of bankers
or insurers. Moreover, there is
an unparalleled tradition of pat-
ronage in Basel. The number of
top-notch museums and the
famous Theatre Basel, which is
well known outside the city, are
unique to an urban area of this
size.
PdeM
Yes, that’s how we fi rst got to
know him. Since childhood
Jacques and I have been mem-
bers of a Basel Carnival clique.
Every year the group chose a
current subject as the theme. In
1977 the Kunstmuseum Basel
bought the work Feuerstätte I
from Joseph Beuys, which con-
sisted of a wooden wagon, a few
copper rods and iron bars. Pub-
lic funds were used to purchase
it for 300,000 francs, and of
course a few people in the city
were not amused.
PdeM
The awareness of architecture is
extremely high here. London,
New York or Tokyo don’t have
such a diverse concentration of
architecture as Basel. Eleven
Pritzker Prize winners have
constructed buildings in this
city of 180,000 residents. Due to
companies like Novartis, Roche
and Vitra, international archi-
tects like Chipperfi eld, SANAA
and Gehry have been brought
here. This shows that there is
no protectionism here, rather
one exposes oneself anew in
Basel.
LEADERSHIP
HW
WHY IS THAT?
HW
IT’S BEEN SAID THAT YOU ONCE
CONVINCED JOSEPH BEUYS TO
DESIGN SUBJECTS AND COSTUMES
FOR YOUR CARNIVAL GROUP. IS
THIS REALLY TRUE?
"HERZOG DE MEURON IS A PROJECT FOR US JUST
LIKE EVERY BUILDING PROJECT. WITH THE DIFFER-
ENCE THAT IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED."
HW
AND YOU MADE FUN OF IT.
PdeM
Yes, but not of the city that
bought the artwork, rather the
people that were upset. We
knew Beuy’s work and found
this “I could do this” attitude,
which was used against him,
completely uncalled for. We
gathered our courage and called
him. He immediately invited
us, two 27 year olds, to Düssel-
dorf-Niederkassel.
HW
WHAT? WHY?
PdeM
I think he was fascinated by the
relationship between the Celtic
origins of Carnival and sham-
anism. He also found it inter-
esting that people were dealing
with art at Carnival, which
would normally never happen.
When we were with him he ex-
plained to us: My art does not
belong in a museum, rather on
the street. But insurance-wise
this was not possible and with
his consent we created an exact
replica of his artwork. For three
days during Carnival Feuer-
stätte I was hauled through the
streets of Basel. And on the last
night Beuys personally de-
livered it to the museum.
HW
EVEN THOUGH YOU CONTINUE
TO BUILD AROUND THE WORLD,
YOU STILL LIVE IN YOUR HOMET-
OWN OF BASEL. WHY?
PdeM
Basel, with its bridge over the
Rhine, has always been a
thorough fare city from north to
south, which has lead to lively
exchanges. Basel established the
fi rst university in Switzerland
and has always been a research
city. The mindset of researchers
is something completely differ-
ent from the mindset of bankers
or insurers. Moreover, there is
an unparalleled tradition of pat-
ronage in Basel. The number of
top-notch museums and the
famous Theatre Basel, which is
well known outside the city, are
unique to an urban area of this
size.
PdeM
Yes, that’s how we fi rst got to
know him. Since childhood
Jacques and I have been mem-
bers of a Basel Carnival clique.
Every year the group chose a
current subject as the theme. In
1977 the Kunstmuseum Basel
bought the work Feuerstätte I
from Joseph Beuys, which con-
sisted of a wooden wagon, a few
copper rods and iron bars. Pub-
lic funds were used to purchase
it for 300,000 francs, and of
course a few people in the city
were not amused.
PdeM
The awareness of architecture is
extremely high here. London,
New York or Tokyo don’t have
such a diverse concentration of
architecture as Basel. Eleven
Pritzker Prize winners have
constructed buildings in this
city of 180,000 residents. Due to
companies like Novartis, Roche
and Vitra, international archi-
tects like Chipperfi eld, SANAA
and Gehry have been brought
here. This shows that there is
no protectionism here, rather
one exposes oneself anew in
Basel.
