Herzog and De Meuron, << HEHRT zahg or HEHRT zhahk and deh myoor ahn, >> are a team of Swiss architects who have designed some of the best-known and most imaginative buildings of the late 1900’s and the first decade of the 2000’s. Jacques Herzog (1950-…) and Pierre de Meuron (1950-…) formed a partnership in 1978. The partners shared the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious international award in architecture (see Pritzker Architecture Prize).
Herzog and de Meuron are probably best known for their design for the Tate Modern gallery, which is dedicated to art from 1900 to the present. Tate Modern opened in 2000 in the former Bankside Power Station overlooking the River Thames in central London. Herzog and de Meuron remodeled the existing structure, preserving much of its original appearance while creating spectacular exhibition spaces to display modern art. The team designed a 10-story addition, called the Switch House, for the original structure. The addition opened in 2016.
Herzog and de Meuron have designed a broad variety of buildings, especially museums, that are noted for the creative use of materials. They often collaborate with artists on their projects. The partners have designed works in continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They also designed the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China.
The partners’ major projects include three buildings for the Ricola Company in France and Switzerland from 1987 through 1999; the Goetz Collection art gallery (1992) and the Allianz Arena (2005), both in Munich, Germany; the Dominus Winery (1998) in Yountville, California; a railroad utility building called the Signal Box Auf dem Wolf (1994) and an art gallery called the Schaulager (2003) operated by the Laurenz Foundation, both in Basel, Switzerland; the Laban Dance Center (2003) in London; the Prada Aoyama store in Tokyo (2003); the building and plaza (2004) for Forum Barcelona 2004, a multicultural festival in Barcelona, Spain; the Walker Art Center expansion (2005) in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the de Young Museum (2005) in San Francisco; the expansion of the Tate Modern museum in London (2016); the Elbphilharmonie concert hall (2016) in Hamburg, Germany; M+, a museum of modern art in Hong Kong (2021); and the Triangle Tower skyscraper in Paris (scheduled to be completed in 2024).
Jacques Herzog was born on April 19, 1950, in Basel. Pierre de Meuron was born on May 8, 1950, also in Basel. They attended kindergarten together, and both attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The team first gained international attention with their design for the Blue House (1980) in Oberwil, Switzerland.
