Values
With our principles, we want to bring about a sustainable transformation of the housing market. It is crucial for us that renovating is done in a socially responsible way. This means that existing tenants aren’t forced out, they can come back to where they live after the renovation, and rents stay affordable, even despite the renovation costs.
Equally important is ensuring the long-term social and spatial composition of a property. This requires the active involvement of residents in decision-making processes. Furthermore, socially acceptable renovation must be compatible with environmental sustainability.
Finally, we see great opportunities in networking: when neighbourhood associations, municipal institutions and local organisations work together, residents can be empowered to live together more meaningfully. Ultimately, embedding a project in the broader goals of the community – for example, through cooperation with the city administration – also helps to anchor it in long-term neighbourhood development and ensure its lasting effectiveness.
Team
Salome Rohner [she/her]
completed a master’s degree in architecture at ETH Zurich and worked as an architect in Zurich. After completing a second master’s degree in Critical Urbanisms at the University of Basel, Salome has been working in research at the ETH Wohnforum since 2022 and has been employed by the Bureau Giacometti project since 2025.
Rebecca Geyer [she/her]
studied geography at the Humboldt University in Berlin and then process design at the FHNW University of Art and Design in Basel. She co-founded Bureau Giacometti in 2020 and the Working Group for Social-Ecological Construction Transformation in 2022, and worked in neighbourhood development at the Kleinbasel District Secretariat from 2023 to 2025. Rebecca lives in Berlin.
Yarin Shmerling [he/him]
studied art history and political science at the University of Zurich and Changing Societies at the University of Basel. In his master’s thesis, he examined the concept of income-based rent and the advantages of degrowth logic in rent calculation. Yarin has been working on the Bureau Giacometti project since 2022 and co-founded the working group on socio-ecological construction transformation.