Novartis's new Basel campus reflects Vasella's (now out-of-fashion) style

The careful, buttoned-down style favored by Novartis' top execs in Basel has been getting a makeover--at least on the architectural front. Inspired by former CEO Daniel Vasella, Novartis ($NVS) has been spending blockbuster money--$2.3 billion, to be exact--to build a new corporate campus on an old chemical site. Featured by the Financial Times' pharma correspondent Andrew Ward, the centerpiece of the project is a human resources center designed by the world-famous architect Frank Gehry. Ward's piece notes that the building project--"a symbol of Mr. Vasella's ambitious empire-building"--isn't quite done yet. And even though Vasella's grand style and rep for doing things big is more than a little out of favor now, the construction goes on. Story (reg. req.)