Melchior Berri

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Melchior Berri (born October 20, 1801 in Basel; died May 12, 1854 ibid.) was a well-known Swiss architect from Basel.

1 Biography
2 Legacy
3 External links

[edit] Biography

Berri grew up as a son of a pastor in Basel and Münchenstein. Between 1817 and 1823 he studied with the famous architect Friedrich Weinbrenner in Karlsruhe. Afterwards he worked with the architect Jaen-Nicolas Huyot in Paris and studied at the Parisian Academy. In 1826 he travelled to Italy, where he took an interest, both in Pompeii's buildings and frescos, and in the Renaissance palaces of Rome. In doing so he developed the technical skills of a stonemason, plasterer, and bricklayer. He also practised the drawing of landscapes and figures, and studied subjects of technical construction. In 1828 Melchoir Berri opened a construction business and a school of construction and drawing in Basel. His impact outside of the Basel region is mostly due to the construction of the Basel Museum, his only remaining monumental building, but is also due to his designs for a city hall in Zürich and Bern, as well as to his plans for housing development for Luzern and Basel. Berri was also a member of Basel's Grosser Rat (the canton's parliament) and its construction committee, and in 1841 he became president of the Verein Schweizerischer Ingenieure und Architekten (SIA; Association of Swiss Engineers and Architects). He obtained international fame as a neo-classical architect and became honorary doctor of two British architectural associations.

Due to the tensions between the demands of the builder and those of the artist, but possibly also due to the constraints of his provincial circumstances, Berri became depressed and ended his life in 1854.

[edit] Legacy

[edit] Buildings

Landhaus Ehinger, Münchenstein - 1829
Altes Gemeindehaus in Riehen - 1834/35
Museum for Natural History and Ethnography, Basel - 1842-49
Former Sarasin binding factory (Youth Hostel), Basel - 1850/51
Several buildings in the botanical garden in Brügglingen, among them the orangery, barn and tenant's house - 1837-39