The winners for the international architecture competition Extension Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland have been announced. The jury decided to award the project of Swiss architects Christ & Gantenbein the 1st prize.

The 2nd prize goes to fellow Swiss firm Diener & Diener.

Both project teams have now been invited to further develop their very highly regarded proposals before the final decision will be made. Basel’s art museum urgently depends on an extension of its premises since consistent lack of space makes it currently impossible to exhibit numerous pieces of its renowned collection.

Among the 23 participating teams were five Pritzker laureates, such as Peter Zumthor, Zaha Hadid, Rafael Moneo, Tadao Ando and Jean Nouvel.

The awarded teams are:

1st prize: Christ + Gantenbein, Switzerland
2nd prize: Diener & Diener Architekten, Switzerland
3rd prize: SANAA K. Sejima R. Nishizawa, Japan
4th prize: ARGE HHF Architekten, Switzerland + Ai Weiwei, China
5th prize: jessenvollenweider, Switzerland with Kuehn Malvezzi, Germany
Honorable mention: Made IN, Switzerland

Diener & Diener’s entry was ranked 2nd but has been invited with Christ & Gantenbein to further develop their designs until the final winner will be announced:

An exhibition showing all competition entries runs until Sunday, December 20, 2009 at Maiengasse 7/11, Basel, Switzerland.