The approach to urban research of Studio Basel is phenomenological; it starts from a site, from precise observation and description of reality as found. However this is not a naive exercise in use of urbanistic tools without a particular goal. We look beyond the obvious and the commonly understood, into processes and situations that often go unseen, largely or partially unplanned or created through conflict, negotiation and power plays of many actors in the field. The sites are chosen as symptomatic of active energies of transformation, shaping a city and capturing the present urgencies of the context. The different sites/themes that students address in parallel, come together into a larger picture reflecting the present reality of the city and speculating possibilities for the future. This is why Studio Basel does not make a difference between research and design; the precise, critical view constitutes a political, cultural and social necessity and at least as much potential of intervening into a reality as a design.