Signal Box auf dem Wolf, Basel, Switzerland (Scale model, 1:33)
Jacques Herzog
Swiss, born 1950
Pierre de Meuron
Swiss, born 1950
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel
est. 1978
1988-95
A 1:33 scale architectural model in copper and painted wood by Jacques Herzog that condenses a signal box into a compact, corrugated-copper volume topped with a slender antenna, testing how material and form make a small utility building legible and civic.
Up close the model reads like a low, ribbed monolith—its shimmering, horizontally scored copper skin catches the light while the dark-painted interior, taut cables, and thin mast introduce an unexpected delicacy and infrastructural precision.
The work exemplifies Herzog’s early interest in treating technical infrastructure as sculptural architecture, helping to shift late-20th-century practice toward a heightened attention to materiality, surface, and the civic presence of utilitarian buildings.
Medium
Copper and painted wood
Dimensions
41 5/8 x 19 1/8 x 12 1/8" (105.8 x 48.6 x 30.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
388.1994
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
