Herzog & de Meuron

Herzog & de Meuron is an international architectural practice based in Basel, Switzerland. Since our founding in 1978, we have built a wide range of skills and experience that help us to customize solutions for every project. Over 500 highly engaged individuals from 50 countries are all eager to explore how architecture can meet the needs of our rapidly and radically changing world.

Obligations Beyond the Brief

We have no preconceptions – but we do have an obligation to address the issues we all face. In over 600 projects in 40 countries, we go beyond the specific brief, beyond the site and its physicality, beyond convention, with an open and impartial approach. We work beyond the usual disciplines, seeking collaborations and solutions with the like-minded, the equally committed, with those who recognize the need to look at the world with a fresh and critical eye.

Public and Political

With this mindset, we have worked on a diversity of tasks from small, apparently insignificant buildings to larger building complexes through to urban master plans and territorial studies, in the social, cultural and corporate worlds. We have learned how architecture and urban planning shape the identity of a place. Independent of the nature or size of a project, we seek to foster the public life it could and should generate. All architecture is public, and all architecture is political, because it is relevant to life in a community.

Open Dialogue

Rich, open dialogues are critical in defining how projects develop from concept to completion and form the basis of ongoing client relationships. Through teamwork amongst Partners, Associates and our project teams, including those in our regional Studios, and in exchange with all parties involved from politicians to craftsmen, we address all perspectives.

Individuals Grow

We are committed to providing professional development at all levels, from apprenticeships to internships to life-long learning opportunities, and we cultivate relationships with universities and other educational and research institutions. We promote the flow of knowledge between project teams through dedicated platforms for exchange, and we offer training with external organizations. Personal and professional growth is promoted, encouraged and expected.

Selected Awards

Louis I. Kahn Award 2023
Center for Architecture and Design, Philadelphia, PA, USA
for significant contributions to the field of architecture.

Europäischer Kulturpreis 2020
Pro Europa, European Foundation for Culture, Basel, Switzerland
for the Kabinett, Basel, Switzerland

Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award 2020
The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, Illinois, USA
for Jade Signature, Florida, USA

UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award 2019
UNESCO Asia-Pacific Region, Bangkok
for Tai Kwun, Centre for Heritage & Arts, Hong Kong

HKIA Merit Award of Hong Kong 2019
Hong Kong Institute of Architects, Hong Kong
for Tai Kwun, Centre for Heritage & Arts, Hong Kong

BDA Hamburg Architekturpreis 2018
Bund Deutsche Architekten, Hamburg, Germany
for Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

WSJ Magazine Innovators Award 2018
Wall Street Journal, New York City, USA
for ground-breaking accomplishment in the field of architecture

RIBA National Award 2017
Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
for The Tate Modern Project, London, UK

RIBA National Awards 2016
Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
for Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford, UK

RIBA Jencks Award 2015
Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
for major international contribution to the theory and practice of architecture

Design of the Year 2015
Design Museum, London, UK
for Arena do Morro, Natal, Brazil

Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) 2014
University of IIT Chicago, Chicago USA
For 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL, USA

European Prize for Architecture 2013
Pro Europa, European Foundation for Culture, Basel, Switzerland
a global culture prize in the category of Architecture

Revelation Cork Award 2012
Portuguese Cork Association (APCOR), Porto, Portugal
for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2012, Kensington Gardens, London, UK

Prix Acier, Schweizer Stahlbaupreis 2011
Stahlbau Zentrum Schweiz, Zurich, Switzerland
for Actelion Business Center, Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland

Praemium Imperiale 2007
Japan Art Association, Tokyo, Japan
for a global arts prize in the category of Architecture

RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2007
Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
in recognition of a lifetime’s work and its influence on Architecture internationally

The Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Design 2005
Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, Japan
for Prada Aoyama Epicenter, Tokyo, Japan

Medalla de Honor 2004
Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Santander, Spain
for influential architectural work in the recent decades

RIBA Stirling Prize 2003
Royal Institute of British Architects, London, UK
for Laban Creekside, Deptford, London, UK

The Pritzker Architecture Prize 2001
The Hyatt Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, USA
for a significant contribution and advancing the art of Architecture

Prix de l’Equerre d’Argent 2001
Prix d’Architecture du Monteur 2001, Paris, France
for Apartment Buildings Rue des Suisses, Paris, France

Prix Max Petitpierre 2000
Bern, Switzerland
for an important contribution to Swiss Architecture and its presence in the world

The 1999 Rolf Schock Prize for the Visual Arts
Stockholm, Sweden
for architectural programmes and sites with high artistic integrity

Max-Beckmann-Preis 1996
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
for an outstanding contribution in the field of Architecture

Brunel Award 1994
Washington D.C., USA
for Signal Box “Auf dem Wolf”, Basel, Switzerland

Kunstpreis Berlin 1987
Akademie der KĂĽnste, Berlin, Germany
for “Baukunst”