ARCHITECTURE:Herzog & de Meuron

Herzog & de Meuron represents something uniquely, distinctly Swiss. The works of the Basel-based practice express conceptual precision, formal clarity and immaculate detailing and craftsmanship. What truly distinguishes them, however, is their commitment to challenging the Modernist ornament-aversion. They are widely best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of Tate Modern.

By Dimitris Lempesis

The two founding partners Jacques Herzog (19/4/1950- ) and Pierre de Meuron (8/5/1950- ) have had almost entirely parallel careers. Born in Basel in 1950, they both went on to study architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). They received their degree in 1975, along with Aldo Rossi and established their joint practice in Basel in 1978. Herzog & de Meuron, captured the public’s eye in 2000 with their first large-scale project, the Tate Modern in London, they had designed a wide range of projects from the small scale of private homes to the large scale of urban design. While many of their projects are public facilities, they have also completed several notable private projects such as apartment buildings, offices and factories. The individual contributions of each of the two founding partners are inseparable, which was acknowledged by the Pritzker Prize Committee, who made them both laureates in 2001, something that had previously only happened once (Oscar Niemeyer and Gordon Bunshaft in 1988). Jury chairman J. Carter Brown commented, “One is hard put to think of any architects in history that have addressed the integument of architecture with greater imagination and virtuosity”. This was in reference to HdM’s innovative use of exterior materials and treatments, such as silkscreened glass. Architecture critic and Pritzker juror Ada Louise Huxtable summarized HdM’s approach concisely: “They refine the traditions of modernism to elemental simplicity, while transforming materials and surfaces through the exploration of new treatments and techniques”. In 2006, the New York Times Magazine called them “Οne of the most admired architecture firms in the world”. Their early works were reductivist pieces of modernity that registered on the same level as the minimalist art of Donald Judd. However, their recent work at Prada Tokyo, the Barcelona Forum Building and the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, suggest a changing attitude. Herzog & de Meuron commitment of articulation through materiality is a common thread through all their projects. Their formal gestures have generally progressed from the purist simplicity of rectangular forms to more complex and dynamic geometries. The architects often cite Joseph Beuys as an enduring artistic inspiration and collaborate with different artists on each architectural project. Their success can be attributed to their skills in revealing unfamiliar or unknown relationships by utilizing innovative materials. For many years, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were reluctant to decentralize their firm, as they felt they needed hands-on involvement in all their projects. Today, however, with Herzog & de Meuron engaged in  projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia, the partnership has grown from two to five partners (the others being: Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach). while its head office remains in Basel, the practice now have branch offices in Hamburg, London, Madrid and New York.