PROFILE

Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach.

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron established their office in Basel in 1978. The partnership has grown over the years – Christine Binswanger joined the practice as Partner in 1994, successively followed by Robert Hösl and Ascan Mergenthaler in 2004, Stefan Marbach in 2006, David Koch in 2008, Esther Zumsteg in 2009, Andreas Fries in 2011, and Vladimir Pajkic in 2012. An international team of 31 Associates and about 330 collaborators are working on projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia. The firm’s main office is in Basel with additional offices in Hamburg, London, Madrid, New York and Hong Kong.

Herzog & de Meuron have designed a wide range of projects from the small scale of a private home to the large scale of urban design. While many of their projects are highly recognized public facilities, such as their stadiums and museums, they have also completed several distinguished private projects including apartment buildings, offices and factories. The practice has been awarded numerous prizes including “The Pritzker Architecture Prize“ (USA) in 2001, the “RIBA Royal Gold Medal“ (UK) and the “Praemium Imperiale“ (Japan), both in 2007.

Current Projects
Herzog & de Meuron has won the competition to design the new building for the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. The firm’s latest completed projects include the New Hall for Messe Basel inaugurated at the watch and jewelry fair Baselworld in April this year. The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY, USA opened its doors to the public last November. Herzog & de Meuron are currently working on Roche Building 1, a 42-storey tower, which will anchor the Roche Basel Site within the urban setting of Basel, Switzerland (planned completion 2015); Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, a new 43.000 seat stadium for Bordeaux, France (planned completion 2015); Triangle, a new development for the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles in Paris, France (planned completion 2017); Porta Volta Fondazione Feltrinelli, a master plan redefining the Porta Volta in Milan, Italy, consisting of two new office buildings and a generous green area (planned completion 2014); and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, currently under construction, a mixed-use complex comprising a new philharmonic hall, a hotel, apartments and a public plaza, overlooking the Speicherstadt in Hamburg, Germany. Other current projects include the transformation of the Hong Kong Central Police Station, a high profile conservation project which will revitalise a unique cluster of historic structures in the centre of Hong Kong (planned completion 2014); Beirut Terraces, a multilayered high-rise residential project situated in the heart of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Lebanon (planned completion 2015); Park Avenue Armory, the ongoing restoration and reinvention of a historical landmark building into a dynamic alternative arts space in New York, USA (projected completion 2015, first two pilot rooms completed in 2011); 56 Leonard Street, a residential tower situated in the Tribeca area of New York, USA (planned completion 2015); and the São Paulo Cultural Complex Luz in São Paulo, Brazil (planned completion 2016), notably Herzog & de Meuron‘s first commission in South America. In May 2012, Herzog & de Meuron won the competition to design a new children’s hospital in Zürich, a project which envisions two complementary buildings of contrasting typology, programme and urban design; more recent projects include the concept study for a new gondola station at an altitude of 2262m, Toggenburg, Switzerland. Herzog & de Meuron have also been developing a residential and archive developement in the Dreispitz area, Basel, Switzerland.

Herzog & de Meuron also work on urban designs: Burgos Bulevar, an eleven kilometers long urban landscape development through the city of Burgos, Spain, merging public and private transport with green/ park-like public spaces was completed in April 2012; and the master plan for Lyon Confluence in France, the urban redevelopment of the southern tip of the city‘s peninsula bracketed by the rivers Saône and Rhône (since 2009). In 2011, Herzog & de Meuron were commissioned to design the conceptual masterplan for the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and its adjacent territories, near Moscow. The architectural vision behind the scheme aims to create a globally reputed centre for innovative twenty-first century technology, offering inherent urban quality through a vibrant mix of uses.

Museum Projects – Past and Current
The Goetz Collection, a Gallery for a Private Collection of Modern Art in Munich, Germany (1992), stands at the beginning of a series of internationally acclaimed museum buildings, including Museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg, Germany (1999); Schaulager Basel, Laurenz Foundation, a new type of space for art, a warehouse for open storage of contemporary art, in Basel/Münchenstein, Switzerland (2003); followed by Walker Art Center Expansion in Minneapolis, USA (2005); de Young Museum in San Francisco, USA (2005); CaixaForum Madrid, a new exhibition space for Fundación “la Caixa” in Madrid, Spain (2008); and TEA, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain (2008). Perhaps the firm‘s highest profile museum project is the conversion of the Bankside power plant to Tate Modern in London, UK (2000). In 2005 Herzog & de Meuron were commissioned by Tate again to develop a scheme for the expansion of the gallery and its surrounding areas – The Tate Modern Project is projected for completion in 2016. The first phase of its extension, The Tanks - three circular industrial chambers over thirty metres across and seven metres high dedicated to exhibiting live art, performance, installation and film works - opened this year (18 July to 28 October 2012). The series continues with the Extension Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, France (projected completion 2014); Espacio Goya y Museo de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain (2005- ); the new Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida, USA (under construction, planned completion 2013); and the Barranca Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Guadalajara, Mexico. In 2008 Herzog & de Meuron were commissioned to design the Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, their first project in India.

Artist Collaborations
In many projects Herzog & de Meuron have worked together with artists, an eminent example of that practice being the collaboration with Rémy Zaugg (Roche Pharma-Research Building 92 in Basel, 2000; Fünf Höfe, Five Courtyards for the Munich City Centre, 2003; and many more); with Rosemarie Trockel (Ricola Marketing Building in Laufen, 1999); with Thomas Ruff (Eberswalde Technical School Library in Germany, 1999, among others); and with Michael Craig-Martin (Laban Dance Center in London, 2003). More recent collaborations include Chinese artist Ai Weiwei with whom Herzog & de Meuron have worked on the design for the National Stadium Beijing in China (2008), and on their contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008. The collaboration with Ai Weiwei continued with this year‘s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London‘s Kensington Gardens. (1 June to 14 October 2012).

Selected Works
Herzog & de Meuron received international attention very early in their careers with the Blue House in Oberwil, Switzerland (1980); the Stone House in Tavole, Italy (1988); and the Apartment Building along a Party Wall in Basel, Switzerland (1988). The firm’s breakthrough project was the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen, Switzerland (1987). Renown in the United States came with Dominus Winery in Yountville, California, USA (1998). Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); the new Cottbus Library for the BTU Cottbus, Germany (2005); the National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Herzog & de Meuron‘s recently completed buildings include VitraHaus, a new building to present Vitra‘s “Home Collection“, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2010); 1111 Lincoln Road, a multi-storey mixed use structure for parking, retail, a restaurant and a private residence in Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2010); Actelion Business Center in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland (2010); Museum der Kulturen in Basel, Switzerland (2010); Museu Blau, Museum of Natural Sciences, in the transformed Forum 2004 Building in Barcelona, Spain (2012); and the transformation of the Volkshaus Basel, which aims to revitalize the diversity of this location, while at the same time restoring its architectural identity (re-opening of Bar and Brasserie in 2012).

Research and Teaching
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are both visiting professors at Harvard University, Graduate School of Design (GSD), USA, since 1994 (and in 1989). They are professors at the Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology Zurich (ETH) – Department of Architecture, Network City and Landscape, since 1999, and co-founders of the ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute. The ETH Studio Basel started a research programme on processes of transformation in the urban domain. Their research activities are documented in various publications: “Switzerland. An Urban Portrait” (2006) investigating the urban condition of Switzerland; „Open – Closed: Canary Islands“ (2007) focusing on the urbanisation process on the Canary Islands; and “MetroBasel Comic. A Model of a European Metropolitan Region” (2009) on the development of the tri-national region of MetroBasel.