Martin Burckhardt, born on 5 March 1921 in Basel and died on 6 February 2007 in the same city, was a Swiss architect and politician, member of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

. He was a member of the National Council from 1987 to 1991. He is the architect of the Tower of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel.

Biography

Family and background

Martin Heinrich Burckhardt, also known as Burckhardt-Henrici., was born in Basel on 5 March 1921. His father was the architect Karl August Burckhardt (1879-1960), from an old Basel patrician family; his mother was Louise Elisabeth Koechlin. He was the youngest of five siblings.Christian Felber, "Ein Architekt und Mäzen alter Schule" in ''Balser Stadtbuch''
read online
, p. 107) In 1952, he married Veronika Henrici, the daughter of a Basel lawyer. They had two children, including the ancient historian Leonhard Burckhardt (de).

Studies

He attended school in Basel. After graduating from the Humanist Gymnasium in Basel (de) in 1940, he studied architecture at the

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

, graduating in 1945. He then spent several years in the United States, in New York and Houston.

Career

Returning to Switzerland in 1951, he founded Burckhardt Architekten in Basel (Burckhardt+Partner since 1973) with his father and his partner Karl Eckert. From 1970 onwards, he was also a lecturer and, from 1979 to 1982, a professor at EPF in Lausanne. In the 1950s and 1960s, the office established itself with numerous administrative and industrial buildings, particularly for the chemical industry and the banking sector. The office was able to open branches in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Mexico, Brazil, the United States and Australia, among others. He left the management of Burckhardt+Partner in 1990. In 2006, the office was Switzerland's largest architectural firm, with a staff of 219. Martin Burckhardt built the Biozentrum inter-faculty institute at the University of Basel from 1967 to 1970, the

BIS-Tower The BIS-Tower, more commonly known as the ''BIS-high rise'', is a 69.5-meter-high administrative tower and headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland. Designed by architect Martin Burckhardt (architect), Mart ...

of the

Bank for International Settlements The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution which is owned by member central banks. Its primary goal is to foster international monetary and financial cooperation while serving as a bank for central bank ...

from 1972 to 1976 and the

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

Research Centre in Lausanne from 1980 to 19872. In 1968, he designed the Sandoz-France headquarters in Rueil- Malmaison, in collaboration with

Bernard Zehrfuss Bernard Louis Zehrfuss (Angers, 20 October 1911 – Neuilly-sur-Seine, 3 July 1996) was a French architect. Life He was born at Angers, into a family that had fled from the Alsace in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War. Zehrfuss's father was kil ...

, assisted by

Jean Prouvé Jean Prouvé (; 8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. Le Corbusier designated Prouvé a constructeur, blending architecture and engineering. Prouvé's main achievement was transferring m ...

Politics

From 1984 to 1988, he was chairman of the Basel section of the

. From 1976 to 1988 he was a member of the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt and from 1987 to 1991 a member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (; ; ; ) is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, representing the people. The other house, Council of States, represents the states, preventing more populous parts of the country overpowering the rest. As the p ...

, where he was particularly involved in the areas of education, culture and foreign policy. He was a member of the parliamentary reform committee and the committee for the 1992 World Expo in Seville.

Art and patronage

Martin Burckhardt was a member of the Basel Cantonal Art Commission from 1955 to 1975. In 1961, in memory of his father, he created the Karl August Burckhardt-Koechlin Fund to acquire 20th-century drawings, watercolours and gouaches for the Prints and Drawings Department of Basel's Kunstmuseum. The collection includes works by : Otmar Alto, Marguerite Ammann, Horst Antès, Julius Bissier,

Umberto Boccioni Umberto Boccioni (; ; 19 October 1882 – 17 August 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach ...

, Walter Bodmer,

Eduardo Chillida Eduardo Chillida Juantegui (Basque: ''Eduardo Txillida Juantegi''; 10 January 1924 – 19 August 2002) was a Spanish Basque sculptor notable for his abstract works. Early life and career Born in San Sebastián (Donostia) to Pedro Chillida an ...

, Simon Dittrich,

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

, Maurice Estève,

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Adrian Feininger (; July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City. In 1887 h ...

, Paul Flore,

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

Giovanni Giacometti Giovanni Ulrico Giacometti (7 March 1868 – 25 June 1933) was a Swiss painter. He was the father of artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti and architect Bruno Giacometti. Biography He was the fourth in a family of eight children. His father, ...

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic g ...

Horst Janssen Horst Janssen (14 November 192931 August 1995) was a German draftsman, printmaker, poster artist and illustrator. He had a prolific output of drawings, etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and wood engravings. Janssen was a student of Alfred Mahlau a ...

, Lenz Klotz, Bernhard Luginbühl, Otto Meyer-Amden,

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

, Robert Muller, Antonio Zoran Musique, Luigi Pericle,

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Serge Poliakoff Serge Poliakoff (January 8, 1900 – October 12, 1969) was a Russian-born French modernist painter belonging to the 'New' École de Paris ( Tachisme). Biography Serge Poliakoff was born in Moscow in 1900, the thirteenth of fourteen children. H ...

Oskar Schlemmer Oskar Schlemmer (; 4 September 1888 – 13 April 1943) was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923, he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working at the ...

, K. R.H. Sonderborg, Louis Soutter and Antonio Tàpies This fund is managed by the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft (FAG).

Works (selection)

Architecture

* ''Verwaltungsgebäude und Kantine'', Geigy, Werk Rosental, Basel, 1954–66 * ''Warenhaus Pfauen'', Coop, Basel, 1959–63 * ''Wasserstelzenschulhaus'', Riehen, 1961–1964 * ''Fabrikations- und Lagergebäude'', Thomi und Franck, Horburg, 1963–67 * ''Bürogebäude'', Burckhardt Architekten, Basel, 1962–62 * ''Soleeindampfungsanlage'', Rheinsalinen Schweizerhalle, Pratteln, 1965–66 * ''Hauptsitz Sandoz-France'', Paris, Frankreich, 1965–68 * ''Hauptsitz Sandoz'', São Paulo, Brasilien, 1965–68 * ''Aquarium und Vivarium'', Zoologischer Garten Basel, 1967–69 * ''Laborgebäude Pharma und Farben'', Sandoz, Basel, 1967–71 * ''Forschungszentrum Sandoz'', Wien, 1967–70 * ''Biozentrum'', Universität Basel, 1967–70 * ''Bürogebäude Sandoz'', Barcelona, 1969–70 * '' Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich BIZ'', Basel, 1972–76 * ''Forschungszentrum Nestlé Nahrungsmittel'', Vers-chez-les-Blanc VD, 1980–87 * ''Verwaltungsgebäude Schweizerischer Bankverein'', Basel, 1980–88 * ''Modehaus Spengler'', Münchenstein, 1988–91 * ''Erweiterungsgebäude Universität Zürich'', 3. und 4. Etappe, 1989–94, 1992–97 * ''Informatikgebäude R-1008'' der Ciba-Geigy, Basel 1989–91 * ''Alters- und Pflegeheim Schöntal'', Füllinsdorf 1990–91 * ''Bogn Engiadina'', Therme, Scuols 1990–92 * ''Bürogebäude Hatt-Haller AG'', Dietikon 1991–94 * ''Radio Studio'', Zürich, Um- und Neubau 1992–94 * ''Verwaltungsgebäude Basler Lebensversicherung'', 1993–94 * ''Leonhard-Schulhaus'', Basel 1995–98

Literature

M. H. Burckhardt, ''Baulust'', autopublishing, 2000, Bâle (Mémoires).

Bibliography

* Dorothee Huber: ''Burckhard und Partner.'' In: Isabelle Rucki und Dorothee Huber (Hrsg.): ''Architektenlexikon der Schweiz – 19./20. Jahrhundert.'' Birkhäuser, Basel 1998. ISBN 3-7643-5261-2. S. 105 * Christian Felber: ''Ein Architekt und Mäzen alter Schule''. In
Basler Stadtbuch 2007, S. 107–108

References

External links

Publikationen von und über Martin Burckhardt (architect)
im Katalog Helveticat der Schweizerischen Nationalbibliothek * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burckhardt, Martin 1921 births 2007 deaths Swiss architects