FIBA - Maison du Basket (House of Basketball)

Architect Luscher on new FIBA headquarters: "Building will be held together by 213 member federations" - Watch the interview

ISTANBUL (FIBA) - FIBA will make a very important step in its long, rich history when it opens a new, 8,000 square meter headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, at the end of 2012. For the first time, basketball’s world governing body will own its own building.

FIBA has previously had its headquarters in Rome, Bern, Munich and currently in Geneva, but rented its office space on each occasion.

When FIBA moved from Munich to Geneva in 2002, the Central Board decided to locate a suitable property to base its operations. In May 2008, FIBA identified a plot of land in Mies, in the Canton of Vaud, within a 10 minute drive from Geneva airport.

Patrick Baumann, FIBA Secretary General and IOC member, stressed the importance of the eventual move to Mies. "The 'FIBA House of Basketball' will be where this great global sport will live and grow," he said. "This new home will enable FIBA to best serve the international basketball community, our national federations and zones, and all our partners."

After buying the land, FIBA gave a precise description of the requirements for the building to 10 architectural firms and reviewed proposals from each of them.

The list of firms was trimmed down to four earlier this year and FIBA ultimately opted for a project called 'Basket Hall' that was designed and presented by Swiss architect Rodolphe Luscher, whose group is based in Lausanne.

After the FIBA Central Board was informed today about the project, a contract was signed with architect Luscher.

“This is a very, very important project for me,” Luscher said. “It is a dream project, I would say, like all projects that have a particular purpose, whether it’s in the field of culture, art or whatever. “I would say basically that this is going to be something that is a very emblematic building.”
 
The name of the building, which will be constructed for 30 million Swiss Francs, will be 'Maison du Basket' (House of Basketball). Anyone who will visit the Mies site or see photographs of the facility once it is completed will notice that the design is in line with FIBA’s branding. The Maison du Basket will be in the shape of a hand, as seen on the FIBA symbol.

In addition to being the FIBA headquarters, the recently created International Basketball Foundation will be based there. FIBA will also let space in the building to third parties. Included in the structure will be a huge conference center.

FIBA Central Board member Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Alsabah Talal is among those impressed. “This is a good decision taken by the Central Board to have our own offices, our own land as FIBA,” he said. “All of the sports organizations have their own buildings, their own land, and now FIBA does.”

Luscher says there are many different aspects to the House of Basketball that make it special. “Light is very important in all projects, be they large or small, particularly if you take into account where the building is going to be situated. And in Switzerland, of course, light has a very special value."

“We want to be able to draw light into the building, and when I say light, it’s not just daylight that’s important."

“We also want to be able to take advantage of the light of the night because there will still be people who are in their offices or there maybe meetings going on.”

An interesting aspect to the building is the recognition of member federations. “In each supporting structure, you will have the engraved names of each federation of FIBA,” Luscher said. “It will be a metaphor in that each federation will be supporting the building.”

FIBA will submit plans for a building permit to the authorities in April and, in October of 2010, digging will commence. The plan is to move into the Maison du Basket at the end of 2012.