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For Art Basel 2026, the Swiss landscape architecture firm Enea Landscape Architecture will once again transform the fair’s circular courtyard into a green oasis. For the seventh consecutive year, the company, led by Enzo Enea, is a partner of the world-renowned art fair and will present “The Living Fragment: Enea Tree Museum at Art Basel,” an immersive landscape installation that brings art and nature into dialogue.
From June 16 to 21, 2026, visitors to the social center of the trade fair can expect an extraordinary installation featuring mature trees, handcrafted wooden seating, and natural wall coverings. The installation is inspired by the Enea Tree Museum in Rapperswil-Jona, a globally unique open-air museum where living trees are presented alongside artworks by international artists.
Amidst the vibrant atmosphere of Art Basel, “The Living Fragment” offers a deliberate counterpoint. Instead of visual overload, it creates a place of tranquility and reflection, where trees take center stage as living witnesses to history. The selected trees originate from Europe, North America, the Caucasus, and East Asia, together forming a kind of living atlas of global biodiversity. Their diverse forms, structures, and characteristics create a landscape that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also provides habitats and positively influences the microclimate.
The installation deliberately avoids permanent artworks. The atmosphere is created solely through the interplay of natural materials, light, and movement. The ensemble is complemented by seating objects made from tree trunks, charred using the traditional Japanese Yakisugi method.
The installation also references the philosophy of the Enea Tree Museum, which Enzo Enea founded more than 25 years ago. There, rescued trees, some of them centuries old, are preserved from construction sites and development projects and cultivated in a new location. In the museum, they encounter artworks by renowned artists such as John Giorno, Sylvie Fleury, Jaume Plensa, and Jürgen Drescher on an equal footing.
“Trees are living sculptures, shaped by time, climate and human care. Placing them next to art feels completely natural to me,” explains Enzo Enea.
Since its founding in 1993, Enea Landscape Architecture has established an international reputation. Its focus is on preserving and integrating mature trees into architectural and urban development projects. Clients and project partners include renowned firms such as David Chipperfield Architects, Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG, OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, and Tadao Ando. Among its most well-known projects are Rockefeller Center in New York, Apple’s headquarters in Munich, the Bulgari Hotel in Beijing, and the “Arena for a Tree” installation at the 60th Venice Biennale.
With “The Living Fragment”, Enea is now bringing a piece of its unique Tree Museum to Basel – creating a place where nature itself becomes art.
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