This is yet another museum, immersed in greenery, in the suburbs of Basel. The concept of light from above is further developed, and the relationship with the place is entrusted to stone and plants.

After working with Mme. de Menil, my experience with collectors was enriched by my collaboration with Ernst Beyeler. In some ways, they are alike, and they have helped me understand the spirit that motivates these present-day artistic patrons. The artist creates a work, but the collector creates a collection; it is their work of art, their way to express sensitivity and love of beauty. By creating museums, collectors provide homes for their creations, protecting them against the risks of the world forever, and at the same time giving them a second identity. A picture will be remembered not just as a Picasso or a Kandinsky but also as a piece in the Beyeler collection. Ernst Beyeler is a very demanding man, it must be said, especially of himself. He is a perfectionist who does not like surprises. Before giving me the job, he wanted to see all my previous works. He is a watchful and hands-on client who wanted to create a close collaboration. I always had to take great care to understand and interpret his desires, as well as to be very forceful, to stop myself from being dragged down the wrong road.

The Beyeler Foundation Museum is being constructed at Riehen, near Basel. It stands amid the venerable trees of what was once the private park of the nineteenth-century Villa Berower, now a historic monument owned by the state. In plan, the museum is as precise and rigorous as its client. Four main walls of the same length, oriented in a north-south direction, run parallel to the boundary wall. The exhibition galleries extend in straight lines through the resulting spaces. The section is far more dynamic. The walls have different heights. The easternmost one extends into the park and becomes a low wall that guides visitors to the entrance. The building is covered by a transparent cantilevered roof. Many lighting trials have demonstrated, once again, that overhead light is the best way to give the works softer and more natural colors. This roof is, to some extent, independent of the building. Supported by a very simple metal structure, it extends considerably beyond the perimeter defined by the walls. The supporting structure is not visible from the galleries below, which creates a sense of lightness in clear and deliberate contrast to the rock-like solidity of the outside walls.

All the walls, including the one along the boundary with the park, will be faced with a stone that resembles the red sandstone of Basel Cathedral but comes from the other side of the world, where the tenacious Bernard Plattner went to look for it. The use of this material was intended to be our tribute to the place; it was supposed to give the construction the appearance of an outcrop of the local rock. But here we ran into a problem: it is true that sandstone is the typical building material of this part of Switzerland, but it ages badly and flakes easily. In our case, it would have posed continual maintenance problems. Bernard, who is Swiss himself, is a patient craftsperson and does not give up so easily. He discovered that a similar kind of stone could be found on the slopes of Machu Picchu, in Peru. He went to look at it in person, with Loïc Couton, but was still not satisfied. Eventually, he found what he was looking for in Argentina and also found a way to transport the stone to Europe: a Russian cargo ship. He has also had to face a sailors' strike but solved that last little problem as well. In any case, he and Jurg Burkhardt, our local engineer, have accustomed us to seeing a whole range of problems solved.

To the west, under the edge of the projecting roof, a glass wall delimits the space of a long and narrow winter garden. This conservatory will be used as a sculpture gallery, as well as a space where visitors, emerging from the intense artistic atmosphere and rarefied light of the museum, can adjust to the greenery of the park and the afternoon sun. I believe that contemplation, if it is really going to take on a sacred character, has to alternate with the profane spirit of physical and mental repose. The winter garden represents this 'complementary' aspect: it allows people to move from the emotion of art to a tranquil enjoyment of nature.

Piano, Renzo, The Renzo Piano logbook, Monacelli Press, 1997

DESIGN

Renzo Piano Building Workshop, architects in collaboration with Burckhardt + Partner AG, Basel

DESIGN TEAM B. Plattner, (senior partner in charge), L. Couton (architect in charge) with J. Berger, E. Belik, W. Vassal and A. Schultz, P. Darmer (models)

CONSULTANTS Ove Arup & Partners (structure and services)

DESIGN TEAM B. Plattner (partner in charge), L. Couton (architect in charge) with P. Hendier, W. Matthews, R. Self and L. Epprecht; J. P. Allain (models)

CONSULTANTS Ove Arup & Partners, C. Burger + Partner AG (structure); Bogenschütz AG (plumbing); J. Forrer AG (HVAC); Elektrizitäts AG (electrical engineering); J. Wiede, Schönholzer + Stauffer (landscaping)

DESIGN TEAM B. Plattner, E. Volz (partner and associate in charge)

CONSULTANTSC. Burger + Partner AG (structure); Bogenschütz AG (plumbing); J. Forrer AG (HVAC); Elektrizitäts AG (electrical engineering); Schönholzer + Stauffer (landscaping)