After years of uncertainty, Basel’s Kuppel club is starting a new era in a new building. Will the audience join in?
It was known in Basel as a “permanent temporary solution”: the Kuppel club and concert venue near Basel Zoo. The wooden building with the distinctive roof structure was built around 30 years ago. This was followed by many years of uncertainty for the operators. For a long time it was unclear what the city planned to do with the plot of land near the so-called Nachtigallenwäldeli, and whether Basel Zoo would be expanded.
Caption: The permanent provisional structure: the old dome in 2009. Keystone/Georgios Kefalas
The youth of Basel didn’t mind the temporary situation: people danced, played music and celebrated in the dome until the early hours of the morning. The place had a firm place in the regional nightlife scene with concerts, parties and other events.
This period ended abruptly in 2016 when the dome was demolished without a concrete successor solution. Years of uncertainty followed again. Only after a long back and forth between the city and the operators was the new building project taken over by a foundation. Now it is finished: the new dome.
Caption: No dome, but a certain resemblance: The new dome, which is now finished. Vécsey Schmidt Architects, Pati Grabowicz
“The new dome should pick up where the old one left off, namely with young people filling it with life,” says Tobit Schäfer, president of the foundation behind the new building.
Many will have a kind of déjà vu experience.
The new dome has space for up to 600 people. The striking new building houses a concert hall, a club for 180 visitors, and a bistro with 50 seats. From the outside, the new building is hardly recognizable as a club and concert venue.
However, a similarity to the old dome is clearly visible. This is a coincidence, says Schäfer, who himself spent a lot of time in the dome as a teenager: “Many will have a kind of déjà vu experience.” A basement is also new: here there are eight practice rooms for bands.
Caption: Must not be missed: the large disco ball in the middle of the new dome. Vécsey Schmidt Architects, Pati Grabowicz
The crucial question is: Can the new dome build on its good old days, or has it been forgotten since it closed around eight years ago? What effect has the going-out behavior of young people since Corona, which many club operators have complained about, had on the club scene in Basel? Schäfer admits that Basel’s club scene is undergoing major changes and that many venues are struggling with dwindling visitor numbers.
Will Basel’s youth come back?
However, he is convinced that there is demand for a club with space for 600 people in Basel. “The dome will have to find a new audience, because in the end it will not be able to survive on nostalgics like me.”
Caption: In the old dome people danced until the early hours. It remains to be seen whether the youth will return. Keystone/Georgios Kefalas
They hope to find a niche that other clubs no longer serve. The new operators were unable to say what the program in the new dome will look like at a viewing for the media. “A broad program with plenty of space for pop-rock, hip hop or electronic music,” is how the new operators envision it. Regular operations with two to three events per week are planned.
The dome is here to stay.
The new dome will be celebrated with a large opening party in mid-October. Regular operation will then begin in January 2025 – from then on no longer as a permanent temporary solution. The new dome is intended to last for decades, says Schäfer: “The dome is here to stay.”
