Herzog & de Meuron

Herzog & de Meuron is a Basel-based Swiss architecture firm, founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog (born April 19, 1950 in Basel) and Pierre de Meuron (born May 8, 1950 in Basel), its two main partners. In 2006, the New York Times Magazine called them "one of the most admired architecture firms in the world."

HdeM's 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 Olympic Games) suggest a changing attitude.

Though their commitment to the primacy of materiality shows through all their projects, the manipulation of form has gone from boxy modernism to volumetric prisms of equal if not greater presence. 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 through familiar materials.

Notable projects

 * M. H. de Young Memorial Museum San Francisco, California; 2005
 * Walker Art Center expansion, Minneapolis, Minnesota; 2005
 * Forum Building, Barcelona; 2004
 * Laban Dance Centre, Deptford Creek, London; 2003
 * St. Jakob-Park; Basel; 2001
 * Tate Modern, Bankside, London; 1995–2000
 * Main railway switchtower, Basel; 1994–1997
 * Allianz Arena (football stadium), Munich; 2005
 * Dominus (winery), Napa Valley, California; 1999

Current projects

 * Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics
 * 40 Bond Street condominiums, New York City (completion est. 2007)
 * Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg, Germany (completion est. 2009)

Prizes

 * Schock Prize, 1999
 * Pritzker Prize, 2001
 * Stirling Prize, 2003, for the Laban dance centre
 * L'Equerre d'argent 2001, for the housing development at 17 Rue Des Suisses, Paris