James Turrell has created two artworks especially for the redesign of the Helvetia Campus in Basel, thus creating a new landmark for Basel. Häusler Contemporary mediated and closely accompanied this project.

With «Light Raiment», 2024, James Turrell designed an artwork that illuminates the roof crowns of the towers designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron and integrates perfectly into the architecture of the Helvetia Campus. The twin office buildings with their publicly accessible auditorium, art foyer and park make the leafy St. Alban Boulevard a new experience. Color illustrations designed in a barely perceptible color change bathe the publicly accessible B1 Rooftop Bistro on the 12th floor of the West building in atmospheric light. Turrell's trademark is not entertainment, but the meditative effect of his installations. They play with our sensory and color perception.

The architects allow the floor and ceilings of the interior and exterior areas to merge seamlessly into one another. Turrell takes up the theme and connects the inside and outside through light and reflection. The light from the roof is reflected in the glass façade, blends with the light from the interior and allows colors and spaces to merge. At dusk, the horizon appears in interplay with the light-reflecting terrace roofs, the sky in the complementary color to the artificial horizons of the installation. Two horizontal Tall Glasses, so to speak, hovering above the rooftops of Basel. Almost 100 restaurant guests, around 40 of them on the terrace, will be able to enjoy this play of colors. Typically, Turrell surrounds people with his light installation, immersing them in it and making them part of it. In this way, he removes the separation between art and viewer, giving his works a unique magical effect.