It's perhaps natural that a product line designed by an architect would end up being, well, architectural – and that's exactly the case with UniFor's newest furniture project created with the Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron. To be revealed at Milan Design Week 2026, ‘MTM – Made to Measure' was designed by the Pritzker-winning architects for the Italian office interior specialist to tectonic results.

MTM – Made to Measure by UniFor and Herzog & deMeuron

The launch also represents an idea that has been a long time in development. The core of ‘MTM – Made to Measure' was originally conceived in 2022 for a standing table prototype for Herzog & de Meuron's Basel studio. This, in turn, helped inspire the modular benches for its Memphis Art Museum project in late 2024 (the building opens later in 2026). This newly announced furniture project and the concept's development towards its present iteration allowed the existing design ideas to mature and expand, evolving through material research and architectural thinking into a new life that is bigger in ambition, smoother in function, as well as customisable and scalable.

‘MTM – Made to Measure' encompasses a range of product sizes and typologies, from benches and sofas to coffee tables and even a table tennis table. What they all have in common is their structural system, a matrix composed of solid, angled frames. Their wood elements slot together in three dimensions in a version of the traditional castle joint. This creates a sturdy yet slender framework system, resulting in the piece's strikingly lightweight proportions. It also means that ‘MTM' can be incredibly versatile, as it can be adapted for length and scale. Meanwhile, as this construction method is applied throughout the collection, it results in a unified look regardless of product function, while affording a streamlined consistency in terms of production.

Complementing the frame's graceful appearance, the upholstered elements in the collection are clad in cork leather, which brings an unexpected, pleasingly tactile and durable look. The architects were introduced to cork while in search of renewable material alternatives during their furniture development work for the Pérez Art Museum in Miami (which opened in 2013). Drawn to the material's texture, feel and potential for customisation, they started using it in several of their projects, including the upcoming Memphis Art Museum. Here, the material palette also includes structural elements in solid wood and table tops in travertine, coloured glass and polished steel.

‘The strength of the series lies in its versatility,' says Ascan Mergenthaler, the senior partner in charge. ‘It is designed – as its name suggests – to be made to measure in its actual use, physical dimensions, purpose, and material quality. This series of furniture pieces is intended to bring people together. Whether as a large work or dining table, a group of sofas and benches, or a playful gathering around a table tennis table, the pieces encourage exchange and shared time. Their generous dimensions also make it easy for larger groups to come together.'

Herzog & de Meuron has a long-standing relationship with UniFor, having also designed its Milan showroom, and the building it sits in, the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. ‘MTM – Made to Measure' is just one of two launches by the collaborators at this year's Milan Design Week – the other being ‘Giuditta', a family of indoor and outdoor furniture for leisure and dining.

UniFor, Viale Pasubio, 15, 20154 Milan

herzogdemeuron.com
unifor.it

'We’ve laid our foundations and there’s the idea that we’re here to stay,' Matter and Shape artistic director Dan Thawley said about the fair’s just-concluded third edition (6-9 March), whose theme was 'scale'. 'In design today,' Thawley said, 'we are always discussing collectible design and it all becomes a bit nebulous, so I wanted to think about it in a humorous way.'

But 'scale' isn’t just about the size of works, it’s also about size of production: industrial companies were showing at the fair, as well as independent designers who have a hand in every one of their pieces’ production. Storied design house Georg Jensen showed 11 reissued jewellery works by midcentury Danish and Swedish female artist-makers; Herzog and de Meuron showed their ‘Hong Kong’ stool (inspired by the benches made for Hong Kong’s M+ museum: pieces are slotted together and held in place by one wooden spike) in a special walnut and ash wood mix just for the fair; and up-and-coming French designer Sophie Taillet had her spinning-top mirrors on display at the entrance to one of the two pavilions in the Tuileries Gardens.

Verre d’Onge, a Montreal-based glassblowing business, has shown at Matter and Shape since the first edition (there are very few exhibitors who return year after year). 'The fair suits our personal tastes,' co-founder Jérémie St-Onge said. 'The clientele is the difference,' co-founder Flor Taillefer-Pérez added, citing that the fair attracts a lot of professionals (Thawley confirmed that it is mainly B2B-focused) and those who work in the creative industries. The fair’s owner, WSN, also owns fashion fair Premiere Classe, which runs during Paris Fashion Week, with tents abutting those of Matter and Shape. This year, Verre d’Onge showed glass bottles in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. 'They’re very spontaneous forms,' St-Onge said; he let the pieces dictate their own endpoint.

There were some major changes to the fair for 2026, such as a dedicated scent section, which included Ecdysis Studio’s first artist edition of its Cave 0 perfume, created with the use of cave waters, cicada nymph skins and microbial moonmilk deposits.

Matter and Shape architecture by JA Projects

Another change for Matter and Shape was in its architecture, which this year was entrusted to JA Projects. Thawley had met the practice’s founding director Jayden Ali at Frieze Masters, and had also admired his work at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023, as well as at the Royal Academy of Arts’ exhibition ‘Entangled Pasts’ the year after.

'I wanted to root [the fair’s revamped design] in the context of these gardens,' Ali said, referring to the Tuileries backdrop. He was drawn to the gardens' mix of botany, commerce and civicness, and especially intrigued by the addition of mulberry trees for silk production under King Henri IV – who revised the gardens in the late 16th century. This led JA Projects to the idea of using moiré – a finish often associated with silk – and, along with Studio Hugo Blanzat, the team referenced it throughout (see top), including in a public bench between the fair’s pavilions that was regularly occupied on opening day.

'It’s about new forms of gathering,' said Ali, who also arranged the auditorium’s seating in a way to represent an arena – a nod to the riding school that used to be in that part of the gardens. Following the fair, a lot of the materials used in the pavilions’ construction will be given to an architecture school to, said Ali, 'nudge the dial towards sustainability'.

When legendary modernist architect Marcel Breuer designed a new home for the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966, he intended to ‘transform the vitality of the street into the sincerity and profundity of art.’

An art piece in its own right, the Madison Avenue landmark — known fondly as the Breuer Building — is defined by its dramatic overhangs and protruding angular windows. For decades, it was home to the Whitney and, for the past 10 years, served as an outpost for both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection. Today, Sotheby’s is banking on the building’s storied past, quite literally, by transforming it into its global headquarters.

‘It’s a homecoming of sorts,’ says Charles Steward, Sotheby’s CEO. ‘It's nostalgic. You can talk about the Breuer as an architectural landmark. You also can talk about it in terms of art history: all of the exhibitions, artists and collectors that have been affiliated with this space over the last six decades.’

Moving from its long-held seat in an all-glass mid-rise much further east on York Avenue, the auction house is now significantly closer to Museum Mile institutions like the Guggenheim and the Met, as well as blue-chip galleries like Gagosian.

Sotheby’s tapped leading architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron (H&dM) to adapt the building. The Swiss firm felt like a fitting choice, given its deft transformation of London’s Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern, as well as the design of other notable museums including the M+ in Hong Kong and the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, New York. The Swiss firm worked closely with local preservation practice PBDW Architects on the careful, ‘light-touch’ renovation of the landmarked building.

‘It was a great honour but also a great responsibility,’ says Wim Walschap, H&dM senior partner. ‘One of Breuer's key projects, the building is a rare example of post-war modernism in New York with distinct beauty and clarity, specifically designed for public use. Our goal was to preserve and re-accentuate its timeless appeal and architectural integrity while adapting it for a dynamic future; respecting its original purpose and while preparing it for a new use.’

The seven story, 78,000 sq ft structure now plays host to adaptable exhibition and auction hall spaces, offices and a soon-to-open basement-level restaurant from prolific New York interiors firm Roman and Williams as an extension of their upscale Soho French bistro La Mercerie.

The few major alterations include a seamlessly integrated bulkhead extension toward the building’s rear; a newly centralized freight elevator accommodating the more frequent movement of art throughout the space; and increased ADA accessibility. Gallery spaces on the second through fifth floors were also opened up and reconfigured to host exhibitions.

In the lobby, a new technologically advanced screen was introduced above the main reception desk. Flush-to-the-wall vitrines were added off to one side to delineate a gift shop. On the second floor, a larger 1,832 sq ft open-plan area — with demountable walls — doubles as one of the main auction halls with seating for 90 to 100 guests. On the third floor, walls were positioned on either side of a central corridor so that one of the building’s iconic windows could become the main architectural focal point.

With its soaring 17-foot-tall ceilings and windows facing Madison Avenue, the fourth floor has been fashioned into Sotheby’s marquee sales room. A private mezzanine level was fitted out with double-sided mirror walls and, according to some sources, can only be accessed through a private elevator to accommodate guests that would rather remain anonymous.

Where H&dM and PBDW’s intervention truly shines is in the meticulous restoration of surfaces and light fixtures. Before Sotheby’s acquired the building, the silver bowl light bulbs of the building's famed dome pendants were mismatched, meaning they emitted different hues. A completely new suite of bulbs was introduced, re-enlivening the space with just the right amount of brightness.

Bush-hammered concrete walls were steam-cleaned. Bluestone floors throughout were repolished. Oak flooring in dedicated areas was replaced. The firms went through multiple rounds of approval with local community boards and the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Marking the opening of Sotheby’s new Breuer Building HQ is a robust fall 2025 program. Bolstered by public exhibitions, this year’s New York sales (taking place 18 to 21 November) will focus on the comprehensive Modernist and Impressionist collection of Leonard A. Lauder, as well as that of Cindy and Jay Pritzker. Also on view as part of an upcoming contemporary sale, is Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, America (2016), and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Crowns (Peso Neto) painted in 1981. The work was featured as part of Basquiat’s first major retrospective, held in this very building in 1992.

As Madeline Lissner, Sotheby’s EVP of global fine art and major collections, hints, ‘There’ll be many more of these homecoming moments in our galleries’ — but for now, Sotheby’s will celebrate its own.

Calder Gardens launches this September to an architectural design by Herzog & de Meuron, and landscape and gardens by Piet Oudolf. Designed to present a rotating display of key pieces from influential American artist Alexander Calder, immersed in flowering nature, the project, curated by the Calder Foundation, is located within the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Downtown Philadelphia, where the artist was born.

Enter Calder Gardens

The new Philadelphia institution will throw open its doors to the public on Sunday, 21 September 2025. The new cultural hotspot brings together art, architecture and nature in a single experience. Oudolf's naturalistic gardens and meadows of wildflowers merge effortlessly with Herzog and de Meuron's curved building volumes, both echoing in their way Calder's masterpieces, which visitors are invited to experience up close and personal.

The opening celebrations include a free public city parade by artist, composer and musician Arto Lindsay – signalling an open invitation for Philly residents and beyond to come in and explore the grounds and new museum when open from Sunday.

'Calder Gardens is an extraordinary space, and in joining the other cultural treasures along the Parkway – including the Barnes, the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art – it will further solidify Philadelphia’s position as one of the world’s most exciting cities in which to experience, and be transformed by, art,' says Marsha Perelman, President of the Trustees of Calder Gardens.

Introducing 'Calder Gardens: Drawings and Texts by Jacques Herzog'

To mark the occasion, Hauser & Wirth Publishers is launching Calder Gardens: Drawings and Texts by Jacques Herzog this winter. The luxurious, large-format tome offers insights into the development of architect and studio co-founder Jacques Herzog’s thinking and process for Calder Gardens through drawings, sketches, collages and model photography. The excerpt that follows, by Herzog, prefaces the book and allows a glimpse into the project and its creative approach.

Jacques Herzog on Calder Gardens

‘This was a very unusual project for an architect because the client did not give us a predetermined brief or budget, nor even a clear site in the conventional sense with limiting height or zoning restrictions. The project didn’t have a name in that early phase either. We met Alexander S C ‘Sandy’ Rower, president of the Calder Foundation, and Joseph Neubauer, then chair of the Barnes Foundation board of trustees, in Basel back in 2020 and almost immediately and without prejudice jumped into talking together. About what the project could be, and also what it should not be. I remember that moment well because there was a kind of innocence and fragility around the project.

It was so different and open compared to all other commissions I have ever worked on. This new site for Calder in Philadelphia should not freeze an image that visitors might have when thinking of Calder’s work but – quite the opposite – it should allow for the works of art to express their incredible diversity and ambiguity within numerous different spatial contexts. Therefore, it should not be like a museum, nor a Schaulager, and not an art gallery. So what then?

I started to work on the design in early 2020, just as the Covid pandemic began. I immediately became aware that working on this project would be more like working on an artwork, since no one would ever tell me what to do when I got up in the morning. I thought about what the project could be. The physical isolation from other people inside and outside our offices during those early days of the pandemic enhanced my perception of working alone without the usual exchange with a fully equipped project team. As a result of these extraordinary conditions, I started very early in the process to produce many sketches and drawings and notes with possible guidelines for my own thinking.

Such documents have always been the main instrument in my architectural practice, but the sheer amount and the specific character of the Calder sketches is extraordinary. The drawings express uncertainty and doubt, and also enthusiasm in moments when they made me believe I was reaching a new step in finding out what the architectural and sculptural identity of the project was going to be.

As the design evolved, I increasingly worked with a small team, led by Jason Frantzen, who helped shape the project through their studies; later on, they translated models, sketches and drawings into proper plan documents for our local architects in Philadelphia. During the whole process, we remained in an intense and fruitful dialogue with our client, represented primarily by Sandy and Joe. This exchange was very special, too – very different from other projects, since I always laid my explorations out in the open, including the trial-and-error moments. They accepted these moments of doubt and accepted the path that eventually led to the architecture we were all looking for.’

Calder Gardens: the completed building

Right from the start of the project, the Calder Foundation presented Herzog and de Meuron with a challenge: to create a museum like no other, a space that is 'intimate and ever-changing' and a place that creates a dialogue between art and architecture, nature and creativity. The project was developed on a relatively flat piece of land, and the architects drew on Calder staples: 'form, colour, and movement,' the architects write.

'In this unique commission in Philadelphia – from the site, to the open brief, to our design process - I focused on space over form, leading me to explore below-grade areas and discover the defining spaces of the structure,' says Jacques Herzog. 'Calder Gardens embodies a kind of ‘no-design’ architecture, allowing the works of art to express their diversity and ambiguity across numerous different spatial contexts. It’s a place where you can sit, wander, and observe, whether it’s nature or art, with the ease one has when one sits under a tree.'

The Swiss architecture practice responded to their brief by crafting a building composed of a series of forms and geometries. A tapered metal form gently dominates and reflects its live, green surroundings, delineating the site. In front of it, a folded metal canopy signals, and covers, the main entrance. There is a central, disk-like plaza just outside of it, leading to the ‘Sunken Garden’ toward the east and the ‘Vestige Garden’ to the west - providing space for outdoors sculpture, all surrounded by Oudolf's some 250 varieties of plants and over 37,000 perennials.

Low, elongated volumes and the use of timber from some angles help the complex to remain unassuming and relatively unobtrusive within its surroundings. The dark timber surfaces also provide a nod to Calder's own, black-painted, humble, Connecticut barns.

Inside, concrete surfaces and beams mark different areas and galleries, designed to accommodate Calder's works, which range in scale. Strategically placed large openings connect with the outdoors and bring natural light into the interior.

'While I have admired Alexander Calder for decades, I never imagined receiving such a remarkable opportunity to engage his work directly,' says Piet Oudolf. 'At Calder Gardens, I have designed a landscape that responds not only to the specific conditions of the site but to Calder’s powerful embrace of movement and change as defining elements of his art. Here in Philadelphia, Calder’s sculptures will be placed in dialogue with gardens that are constantly evolving. Those artworks and the plants I have selected and placed, will be moving in time at different speeds, in relationship to one another and the seasons, for many years to come. I look forward to watching this unfold.'

Calder Gardens opens on 21 September, caldergardens.org. ‘Calder Gardens: Drawings and Texts by Jacques Herzog' (Hauser & Wirth) is released on 21 October, hauserwirth.com, herzogdemeuron.com

Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron has completed a major new headquarters building for Swiss bank Lombard Odier in the Geneva suburb of Bellevue, overlooking Lake Geneva. Named ‘One Roof’, the building brings together over 2,000 of the company’s staff from disparate sites, accommodating them in a shared hub where design centres on openness and collaboration.

The eight-storey, 170m-long building is characterised by concave glazed façades, wrapped on all sides by terraces. Cantilevered horizontal concrete slabs are balanced by slender metal vertical columns, painted white to create a sense of lightness.

Tour Herzog & de Meuron's ‘One Roof’ for Lombard Odier

The exterior’s visual grid is loosened by dynamic column placements and a gentle rhythm of projecting and pulled-back floor plates – which result in double-height interior spaces and an eye-catching cantilevered terrace swinging out from the building. The pointed corners of the structure recall stretched sails – studio partner Jacques Herzog describes the building's outside as ‘a kind of mille-feuille’, due to its light, layered and slender nature.

‘It’s not a block,’ says Christine Binswanger, Herzog & de Meuron partner in charge of the project, adding that it was important to avoid the sense of a ‘hermetic’ building – achieved by designing wraparound terraces, all accessible from the interior.

Outdoors, an elegant amphitheatre is carved into the landscape, leading down through a double-height glazed wall to an indoor auditorium. A curved concrete wall connects inside and out – a bold, sweeping architectural gesture embedded in the ground that Binswanger says evokes a ‘cave’. ‘It’s the ultimate impossibility: one slab merges with the slab below and creates this connection,’ she says.

In the lofty interior, seating accommodates over 500 people across formal and informal arrangements. The curved concrete wall defining the space sets the tone for the building’s interior architecture, where there are few straight lines.

Most striking of this approach, an almond-shaped ‘cut’ into the building results in a full-height atrium that brings natural daylight deep into the structure through a glazed roof light. What results is an arresting canyon-like space, overlooked by meeting rooms, with timber-clad walls and a concrete staircase that snakes up to the first floor.

Throughout the building, an abundance of curved walls creates a fluidity of movement and visual softness – not to mention a lack of oppressive corridors. ‘It’s about leading people through and making them curious,’ says Binswanger of the layout.

The 71,202 sq m building is arranged into zones of modulated privacy and formality, mixing open-plan, desk-based working areas with breakout and meeting rooms of different sizes, nap rooms, and spaces where leisure and collaborative work commingle. Particularly impressive are the double-height, lounge-meet-breakout spaces on the second and fifth floors, flooded with natural daylight and featuring panoramic views of the lake and mountains beyond.

Such aspects of the design, alongside amenities including a restaurant and fitness centre, reflect the desire for the building to support employee wellbeing. ‘You have to do something that makes people happy,’ says Binswanger.

Part of the building is dedicated to Lombard Odier’s client interactions. Visitors are welcomed through a dedicated lakeside entrance that leads to ‘salons’ on floors above, with luxuriously fitted-out meeting rooms. Interior designer Rodolphe Parente was appointed to design these spaces, adopting a darker and richer palette, furnishing in a domestically informed way, and crafting rooms that offer a greater sense of privacy and discretion, all vital for the bank’s clientele.

While designed around programmatic need, One Roof also centres on sustainable architecture and design, and the building is targeting BREEAM Outstanding certification. Though concrete, a high-carbon material, was used structurally for its robust resilience and high thermal mass, the architects employed recycled cement in the foundations, timber in interior fit-outs, and prioritised locally sourced materials. Outside, a verdant landscape features 160 trees, accompanied by beehives and insect hotels.

Energy efficiency was crucial for the project, which is heated and cooled using GeniLac, a system harnessing the water from Lake Geneva. Topping the building is a 750 sq m solar-panel array alongside a green roof; meanwhile, a 444-cubic-metre rainwater-collection tank facilitates water reuse. Automated sensor-based systems ensure energy is only used when it is needed, and the cantilevering floor plates shade the building’s façade, reducing solar gain, supported by automatic window shades.

Herzog & de Meuron was appointed to the project in 2017, following a competition, winning out against practices including OMA and Bjarke Ingels' BIG. Though the expected completion date was 2021, the disruptions of Covid-19 and the unexpected discovery of rare orchids on site, which had to be temporarily relocated, pushed the timeline back. Geneva-based firm Favre & Guth worked alongside Herzog & de Meuron as the executive architect.

Shut your eyes and jab a finger at a map of the US and you will likely find a brand new, freshly spruced up or forthcoming art museum within driving distance of your digit.

In the Great Plains, there’s the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, with its sweeping new wing by Snøhetta. Venture south and you’ll encounter the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee, by Herzog & de Meuron, and can look forward to the development of a Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art expansion, in Kansas City, Missouri, currently being designed by Weiss Manfredi. Head to New York and discover the reimagined Frick Collection, a Beaux Arts-era mansion overhauled by Selldorf Architects, in addition to soon-to-open expansions of the New Museum, Studio Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, helmed by OMA, Adjaye Associates and Frida Escobedo Studio, respectively.

Museums are getting bigger on the western seaboard, too. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will soft launch its Peter Zumthor-designed extension this summer, while The Broad, completed only a decade ago, is also getting a makeover – it just broke ground on a new 50,000 sq ft addition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. And that’s not even touching on projects in the wider cultural sphere, such as the revamped Storm King sculpture park in New York’s Hudson Valley, or the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow by Mecanoo, the performing arts centre slated to open this summer.

According to data collected by AEA Consulting, a global firm that offers strategic services for the cultural sector, around 90 new cultural projects were announced in North America last year alone. ‘The museum sector has been on a long-term building binge,’ says AEA founder Adrian Ellis.

This may seem paradoxical, especially for the US, which has been plagued by culture wars and budget cuts, so what is behind the boom? One obvious culprit is the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw construction projects around the world grind to a halt before then picking up again. Aaron Dorf, a director at architecture firm Snøhetta, thinks museum work has always been cyclical, but the pandemic definitely contributed to a fresh wave of activity. ‘There were probably plenty of institutions that were in the pre-planning phase and hit pause, so that shifted the timeline for a number of them,’ he says. But there is more than that at play. One of the biggest drivers, says Brian Butterfield, a director at Why Architecture, is quite simply to do with building lifecycles.

'The biggest failure point of museums is the mechanical systems,’ he says, citing critical conservation infrastructure, such as temperature and humidity control. ‘Every 20-30 years, you have to replace them.’ Renovations and expansions are a prime opportunity to not only upgrade ageing systems but also to fund them. ‘It’s quite hard to raise a lot of money for what a layperson sees as an air conditioning replacement project,’ notes Butterfield, pointing to his firm’s recent overhaul of the 40,000 sq ft Michael C Rockefeller Wing at the Met, a portion of the museum that first opened more than four decades ago. Working with the Met’s design team, as well as Beyer Blinder Belle, they were able to reinstall art collections from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, but also incorporate digital features, display light-sensitive works (some on view to visitors for the first time) and conduct a complete mechanical overhaul. ‘The public sees the gallery renovation, but underneath the skin is a full systems upgrade that will hopefully last another 50 years,’ says Butterfield.

Ellis sees the recent uptick in museum openings and expansions as part of a longer trajectory, one that began way back in 1997 with the opening of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry. Cities began to look for more ways to make themselves appealing to both residents and visitors. ‘One of the things those cities alighted on was cultural infrastructure,’ says Ellis. ‘Bilbao was the poster child for this.’

Institutional soul-searching combined with macro trends such as globalisation, the need for heightened security post-9/11, and the ability to access culture in the palm of your hand via a smartphone, among other factors, necessitated a radical shift in the way museums got built, how they courted visitors and how they stacked up against their peers.

‘The tricky thing with museums is how do you keep your existing audience while attracting new ones that are younger and more diverse?’ says Butterfield. ‘Museums want to stay relevant. To do that, you have to evolve. And mostly, that means big capital projects.’

The LACMA extension, which has been in the works for nearly two decades, is a case in point. Its David Geffen Galleries will add nearly 110,000 sq ft to the museum. The project will not only comprise traditional spaces for art viewing, but also a new visitor entrance, outdoor plazas, a theatre, a store, dining destinations and educational facilities.

And museums aren’t the only ones thinking about the future; it’s a question that America’s ageing donor class also has top of mind. ‘There’s a certain generation with priceless art collections. And there are a lot of big capital projects that are being driven by promised gifts,’ says Butterfield.

The Joslyn’s new wing, for example, was built in part to accommodate the collection of the late entrepreneur Phillip G Schrager, a monumental gift that included 52 works by the likes of John Chamberlain, Jenny Holzer, Roy Lichtenstein and Antony Gormley. And the drive is not just steered by philanthropists and collectors – museum directors are also thinking about their legacies. ‘How do you make your mark?’ says Ellis. ‘Often the easiest way is a capital project. It’s very concrete, no pun intended.’

The money for such projects is certainly out there. According to data collected by Ellis’ firm, of the world’s top ten budgets for recently announced cultural construction projects, nine are in the US. ‘We’re talking about a quarter of a billion to half a billion dollars in the larger projects. These are incredible sums of money,’ he says. ‘Where are these sums coming from? They’re coming from private philanthropy in one form or another. We’re living in a period that’s not dissimilar in many ways from the Gilded Age when all those big museums, like the Met, were formed a century ago.’

However, it does look like this golden age for museum construction, at least in the Western world, is starting to slow down. ‘I think, to some extent, that trend has run or is running its course in Europe and America,’ says Ellis. Dorf concurs: ‘I think we’re on the downslope of a crest.’

The data supports those observations. According to the AIA’s April Architectural Billings Index, an indicator of construction health in the US, project billings have softened for 28 out of the past 31 months, which economists chalk up to uncertainty. Museums will likely feel the squeeze, too, says Ellis. ‘I’m not saying there’s going to be a precipitous decline, but I’m saying you may be looking at peak museum building as a function of peak museum planning.’

Which begs the question, are bigger museums better? ‘If you look at museums that people uniformly declare to be their favourite museums, they tend not to be enormous buildings but relatively modest, like the Sir John Soane’s Museum – they are relatable experiences,’ says Ellis. ‘Very few people put mega museums as their favourite. And I think there’s a lesson there that we probably need to learn.’ A lesson that half-billion-dollar budgets cannot buy.

In its 45-year history, the Pritzker Prize-winning architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron has undertaken only a handful of hospitality projects. Its portfolio has instead focused on era-defining cultural institutions such as London’s Tate Modern and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. But for Les Trois Rois, arguably Basel’s most storied hotel, the architects made an exception. ‘It’s a very personal project – perhaps even egoistic,’ practice founder Jacques Herzog tells Wallpaper*. ‘I don’t live far from here, so I love to come with my wife and have a drink at the bar.’

Yet long before it became the renowned architect’s local haunt, Les Trois Rois was a city landmark. Originally established in 1681, the hotel has borne witness to centuries of European history. Napoleon rested his head here in the late 18th century. Pablo Picasso, Voltaire, James Joyce – and even Queen Elizabeth II – have all been guests. In a city defined by its confluence of borders and languages, Les Trois Rois stands as a symbol of continuity.

Wallpaper* checks in at Hotel Les Trois Rois, Basel

What’s on your doorstep?

Situated on the banks of the River Rhine – where, in summer, locals can be seen floating downstream with their belongings tucked into inflatable dry bags – Les Trois Rois occupies a privileged position in Basel’s historic centre. Many of the city’s key attractions are just a short walk away: the Messe Basel convention centre (home to Art Basel and Design Miami Basel each June), the Natural History Museum, the Museum of Cultures, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, where visitors can view masterpieces by Holbein, Picasso and Rothko – the last housed in a striking Herzog & de Meuron extension.

Who’s behind the design?

Herzog & de Meuron took a break from masterplanning tech campuses and Olympic stadiums to breathe life into the hotel, located a short stroll from its headquarters. ‘Generally, as an architect, you don’t have the opportunity to develop the whole space, down to the smallest detail,’ explains Herzog, who even handmade the ceramic tiles that clad the fireplace in the ground-floor cigar lounge. ‘But everything here was developed by us in our own workshops. It’s not something you can do all the time – it’s very time-consuming.’

Herzog & de Meuron were tasked with designing the hotel’s expansion into an adjoining former bank (that was later a tourist office) on the Rhine’s left bank. The firm reimagined each of the building’s five floors: a ground-floor restaurant and bar; a first-floor function room with retractable walls capable of producing multiple configurations; two levels of new suites, including the sprawling Les Trois Rois presidential suite; and a decadent rooftop spa.

The room to book

Spanning 240 sq m on the extension’s second floor, the new two-bedroom Les Trois Rois suite is a masterpiece of contemporary luxury. The architects created a fluid space using curtains and sliding doors in place of traditional walls. The bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms – rendered in icy whites and deep reds – radiate from a central, circular living and dining room which, when fully opened, is bathed in light from three sides. ‘We wanted the façade to be free,’ says Herzog, explaining the decision to abandon conventional interior walls. ‘It’s a hybrid between something closed and very open.’

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Herzog and his team configured the ground-floor bar and restaurant to maximise the views of the river. ‘We wanted guests to be immediately connected to the river and the city,’ explains Herzog. ‘This was the driving force.’ To achieve this, the architects raised the tables to window height via a U-shaped stage encircling the restaurant’s perimeter. At the centre, they designed a reflective chrome bar surrounded by stools upholstered in bubblegum-pink velvet.

The river’s presence continues above, where mirrored ceiling panels reflect the Rhine’s blue-green currents between carved geometric mouldings. Hanging over the bar is a vibrant installation by Swiss artists Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger, an eclectic amalgam of found objects – fake flowers, crystals grown in their studio, animal figurines – in a veritable rainbow of colours. ‘It’s a surreal garden,’ says Herzog. ‘I like the combination of a space that’s very French and classic with these Pop Art elements.’

Though the restaurant is set to officially open later this autumn, the hotel already promises a menu of Asian fusion cuisine and an extensive cocktail list. In the meantime, guests can dine on-site at The Brasserie, which serves classic European fare, or at the three-Michelin-starred Cheval Blanc, named the best restaurant in the world in 2024.

Where to switch off

Nestled within the historic building’s mansard roof, Herzog & de Meuron have created an intimate spa inspired by Japanese onsens. ‘The space had these wooden beams, which by themselves were quite ugly,’ Herzog explains of the design. ‘So we thought to add other wooden elements so their presence was blurred. Japanese architecture is very much based on rational construction, so we let the construction become the decoration.’ Between the chocolate-toned rafters, the architects lined the walls with fragrant cedar and adobe-like finishing and designed traditional sliding paper doors for the private treatment rooms. Spanning two levels, the spa includes a sauna, steam room, and icy plunge pool on a rooftop terrace overlooking the river and the historic neighbourhood’s rooftops.

The verdict

As the most storied stay in this small Swiss city, Les Trois Rois was a landmark long before Herzog & de Meuron left their mark. But for admirers of the Swiss duo, the hotel’s new extension offers a rare opportunity to spend the night in a space they helped shape.

Hotel Les Trois Rois is located at Blumenrain 8, 4001 Basel, Switzerland.

You’d be forgiven if you’ve lost track of what’s been happening at the Breuer building, that icon of Brutalism hunkered at 945 Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

In the last decade, the Marcel Breuer-designed landmark has gone from the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art (its home from 1966 to 2014); a short-lived satellite of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; to a temporary home for the Frick collection as that museum underwent renovations. Finally, in June 2023, Sotheby’s announced that it had acquired the building, bringing an end to the game of institutional musical chairs.

Sotheby’s has finally revealed what its plans are for Breuer’s building. Today, the international auction house, alongside the Pritzker prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, unveiled renderings showcasing a plan to transform the museum spaces into one of the world’s leading destinations for art commerce.

Herzog & de Meuron, which has worked with historic structures ranging from the Tate Modern in London to the Park Avenue Armory in New York, was well-aware of the building’s significance, both to New Yorkers and to architectural history.

“The Breuer building is admired not only by New Yorkers but by architects worldwide—it’s not just a landmark, but a true cultural icon,” says Wim Walschap, a senior partner at Herzog & de Meuron.

Because the parts of the building’s interior are protected, changes to public-facing spaces like the grand lobby – defined by a modernist palette of bush-hammered concrete, bluestone, and striking domed light fixtures – are minimal. Herzog & de Meuron went even further by opting to maintain the majority of the building’s original program distribution. In fact, so subtle are the alterations that visitors likely won’t even notice, according to renderings of the project released today.

But there are a handful of key upgrades, including the addition of a freight elevator, to facilitate swifter movement of artworks throughout the building; the transformation of office spaces into additional exhibition space; upgrades to the mechanical and lighting systems; and improved exterior lighting. There are clever interventions too; in the lobby, built-in benches and seating will be transformed into vitrines to display art and objects.

The building, which is set to reopen this fall, will host a series of exhibitions for the public to view. Visitors will also be welcome to dine at a new restaurant on the premises designed by the New York firm Roman and Williams.

‘[The Breuer Building] has always been an icon, but it should also be celebrated and experienced again as a landmark building, accessible to the public,’ says Walschap.

Few skylines are as instantly recognisable as Hong Kong’s. With its serrated silhouette of glass towers pressed up against jade-coloured peaks, it’s a city built on drama and contrast. But beneath this indelible cityscape lies a complex, multilayered metropolis, where colonial legacy, Cantonese tradition, entrepreneurial spirit and everyday street life intersect in one of the most densely populated environments on earth. From its landmark hotels and soaring luxury malls to the bustling street markets, Hong Kong has long been defined by its appetite for both the refined and the real. But to see only the surface is to miss what truly drives it.

The Trip to Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s golden age, in an economic sense, may have peaked in the 1980s and 1990s, when it was crowned the world’s gateway to China. Back then, it was the place where East met West, where deals were inked over long lunches, and the Star Ferry was both a symbol and a commute. Distinctive structures such as IM Pei’s Bank of China Tower, Norman Foster’s HSBC Building, and the Lippo Centre came to define the city’s vertical ambition.

But there’s far more to Hong Kong than serving as a global financial centre and a shopping paradise. Geographically, it borders Shenzhen to the north, with the South China Sea unfurling to its south. It’s made up of more than 260 islands and a swathe of peninsulas and bays, giving it a surprisingly vast spread of green space. In fact, more than 40 per cent of the land is protected country park, laced with hiking trails and secret beaches. Lantau is home to Big Buddha and under-the-radar beaches like Pui O. While on Hong Kong Island, you can hike Dragon’s Back in the morning and have Michelin-starred dim sum for lunch.

Colonised by the British in 1841, the city evolved from a fishing village into a global powerhouse, propelled by its strategic location and deep-water port. The 1997 handover to China marked a new chapter, one defined by a complex balancing act. Fast forward to 2019 and Hong Kong found itself back in the headlines when widespread protests erupted in response to a proposed extradition bill, which many feared would erode the city’s legal autonomy. These demonstrations, followed closely by the pandemic, painted a picture of instability and, for many outsiders, it left an impression that Hong Kong had changed.

The truth is that Hong Kong has always been about resilience and, despite the headlines, the city is still as electric as always. For locals, daily life never stopped. Restaurants remained full, creativity never faltered, and the city quietly redefined itself yet again. As Arthur Bray of Yeti Out, a music collective and creative agency, puts it, ‘We created our own nine-to-five: from 9pm to 5am. The act of resistance became a career.’

And much of this creative energy is flowing into projects reclaiming the city’s past. A place that bulldozed history in favour of high-rise progress, Hong Kong is not known for heritage preservation. But that tide is turning. Tai Kwun, once the Central Police Station Compound, has been reimagined by Herzog & de Meuron into a contemporary arts and culture complex. Nearby, Central Market, one of Hong Kong’s oldest wet markets and a Bauhaus landmark, has found new life as a hub filled with coffee shops, local design stores and community workshops. At PMQ, the former Police Married Quarters have been transformed into a creative space, housing indie boutiques and design studios, while in Tsuen Wan, The Mills has given a former textile factory a second life as a centre for innovation and cultural experimentation. More than just smart repurposing, these are thoughtful interventions – spaces that reflect a shifting mindset and honour the past while looking to the future.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Sham Shui Po, a neighbourhood in Kowloon that sits just north of the more polished enclaves of Tsim Sha Tsui and West Kowloon. A world away from the gloss of Central, it’s a district defined by grit, character and grassroots charm. Ground zero of Hong Kong’s public housing history, it’s where post war migrants settled, where markets buzz and neon still flickers. The buildings are aged, the community is tight-knit, and it’s one of the few districts where snake soup restaurants thrive alongside traditional tofu shops. Kung Wo Beancurd Factory, for example, has been in Sham Shui Po since 1960 and evokes nostalgia for many Hong Kongers with its retro interiors. Listed in the 2020 Michelin Guide, the shop makes fresh tofu daily and serves everything from delicious beancurd puffs to the signature silky smooth tofu puddings.

Once the city’s textile hub, Sham Shui Po has evolved but not erased its past, and today, creative forces are breathing new life into this vibrant neighbourhood. Tai Nan Street, in particular, has become a magnet for local design studios and alternative retail, where you’ll find everything from Savon, a minimalist workshop crafting handmade soaps, and Alri Star, a leather studio that offers workshops and shares its space with an upstairs art gallery, to Whatever Coffee, which describes itself as ‘Coffee. Sometimes gallery. Experimental.’ Gentrification here remains a point of debate, but the creative influx hasn’t smoothed over the area’s edges and, if anything, it fits right into Sham Shui Po’s textured character.

One person actively preserving that past is sound artist Ka Yan Sze. Her work focuses on the dying Hakka villages in the New Territories, specifically those in and around Sha Tau Kok. Driven by conflict and land shortages in northern China, the Hakka (a Han Chinese subgroup) settled in the remote, hilly parts of the New Territories – a large region that runs from the northern edge of Kowloon to the border with mainland China – building rural villages that thrived with farming communities and family clans. But as younger generations left for urban opportunities, many of these villages were gradually abandoned, and the traditions tied to them have quietly begun to fade. From Sha Tau Kok, a restricted town on the border of mainland China, where residents need special permits to live and visitors require approval to enter, Sze works for the Association for Sha Tau Kok Culture and Ecology and runs her own cultural initiative, Fragrant Village. Through this, she’s building an art hub with plans to host artists-in-residence to work with the community and help document its fading traditions. 

Sze has based herself at the end of a row of historic Cantonese shophouses, the two storey buildings with ground-floor shops and living quarters above that are emblematic of old Hong Kong street life. The longest row of shophouses to still exist in Hong Kong, it’s this atmospheric location that gives her easy access to the surrounding Hakka villages, where she travels to record former pupils of all ages singing their village school anthems. ‘These songs are the DNA of the villages,’ she says. ‘The lyrics describe the land, the beauty, the people. They connect generations.’ Sze has collected more than 30 of these anthems and is working on publishing a sound book as a kind of audio archive to ensure the stories of villages like Kuk Po – abandoned but not forgotten – are passed down.

This rooted creativity is what has brought many of the city’s emerging talents back to Hong Kong. Alex Po and Derek Cheng of Ponder.er, for example, returned after seven years in London to launch their gender-fluid label that is gaining global recognition for its conceptual yet wearable approach. ‘We both loved our experiences in London, but we always feel like we want to do something that represents where we come from,’ says Po. ‘There’s so much potential and resources in Hong Kong, alongside a wave of young creatives, who are bringing a new energy to the city and challenging what it means to be creative.’

For Derek Chan of Demo, being based here is intentional. ‘Hong Kong constantly inspires me. It’s a place where different cultures, histories and aesthetics coexist, creating endless creative possibilities.’ His fashion brand frequently references literature, art and philosophy and is designed to reframe outdated perceptions of how men dress and express themselves. ‘What I love most about Hong Kong is its duality; it’s both fast-paced and deeply rooted in tradition. You can walk through towering skyscrapers and suddenly find yourself in an old temple,’ he says. ‘That mix makes it an endlessly inspiring place.’

Others, like Nana Chan of Plantation, are gently reviving heritage through ritual. Born in Taiwan and raised in Hong Kong, Chan spent years abroad in the UK and France before returning to the city to carve out something meaningful. Through Plantation, she’s on a mission to challenge traditional perceptions of tea drinking, and to transform it into a vibrant, evolving experience that resonates with a new generation. It’s a quiet but powerful form of cultural preservation, one that is on the rise. ‘It was hard for us for many years,’ she says. ‘But I think there is a quiet revival. We are seeing more tea shops and tea-related businesses popping up in Hong Kong, and more young people are picking up the profession of tea masters.’

That same desire to shift perceptions also drives Sara Mossman, the founder of Brilliance Bay. After growing up in Canada, she returned to Hong Kong to open the city’s first piercing-only private studio. ‘The body modification scene here was underdeveloped,’ she explains. Seeing this gap in high-quality service and jewellery, she says, ‘There was a genuine need for someone with authentic skills and background to bring proper standards to the city.’ Brilliance Bay has since become a trusted local fixture and proof that niche creativity can thrive.

And it’s not just returnees making waves. Some, like Simon Wilson, have chosen to base themselves in Hong Kong for its unique creative potential. Originally from Ireland, Wilson moved here in 2015 and never left. His latest project, Fork Lore, celebrates the personalities shaping the city’s dynamic food scene. ‘There’s a vibrancy here that never quite goes away,’ he says. ‘The food scene needed a lift, and storytelling can do that.’ It began as a passion project, but it has grown into a content platform profiling everyone from chefs to bartenders. Wilson believes Hong Kong’s scene is shifting away from over-polished hotel dining to more personal, chef-driven spaces. ‘There’s still magic here. It’s just being expressed in new ways.’

Others, like Kieran Ho and Gavin Yeung, are pushing creativity forward through the community. Ho describes Hong Kong as a kind of airport terminal – transient, in motion, and full of people coming and going – but believes that’s what gives it a creative possibility. ‘There’s constant movement, and that makes space for new ideas,’ he says. A third-culture kid himself, Ho is part of a generation of creatives with hybrid identities and big ideas, intent on building something meaningful in a city that’s constantly in flux.

Yeung, through his bar Kinsman, is crafting cocktails that pay homage to the city’s under-represented culinary stories, using indigenous Cantonese spirits. For Yeung, it was about creating something that felt true to the city’s roots. ‘Kinsman is the first cocktail bar built from the ground up to celebrate Hong Kong culture and its liquid heritage,’ he says. ‘This means that everything from the name of the bar to the music, uniforms, interiors and branding all pay tribute to the unique colour of the city.’ Kinsman isn’t just a bar but a love letter to Hong Kong served in a glass. And, like many of the city’s new generation of creatives, Yeung is less concerned with prestige, and more focused on authenticity, accessibility and building community.

Together, this chorus of voices offers a counter-narrative to the doubt often projected onto the city by those looking in from the outside. Hong Kong may no longer be Asia’s undisputed capital of commerce, but it’s morphing into something just as compelling: a capital of culture.

Ambitious infrastructure projects, such as West Kowloon Cultural District, signal a city looking forward. Anchored by West Kowloon’s M+, a museum of visual culture that rivals global heavyweights, the city’s future is also unfolding at Kai Tak, where a vast venue will host everything from sporting events to concerts on the site of the city’s former airport, while The Henderson, a swirling 36-storey glass tower by Zaha Hadid Architects, is redefining Central’s skyline.

Still, the best of Hong Kong might be in the unexpected: sunrise over Cape D’Aguilar, a trek along the rugged MacLehose Trail, or a boat trip to Sharp Island – where volcanic rock formations, a disappearing tombolo, and clear waters make it feel worlds away from the city. For a city known for speed, its slower, greener side is just as thrilling.

Often misunderstood and frequently underestimated, Hong Kong continues to surprise. The city still pulses with life – you just have to look beyond the headlines.  

A version of this article appears in the June 2025 Travel Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Twenty-five years after its opening, Tate Modern, London’s museum of modern and contemporary art on the Southbank, continues to captivate audiences. Renowned as one of the most engaging and accessible institutions of its kind, Tate Modern has redefined what an art museum can be in the 21st century.

This weekend (9-12 May), the museum is feting its 25th anniversary in style, with an epic Birthday Weekender of art, shopping, music and more. Here are the free exhibitions and events to check out at the Tate Modern this weekend.

See incredible artworks for free

The public can enjoy free installations and performances over the weekend. Louise Bourgeois' 10m-tall bronze spider sculpture, Maman, which welcomed the museum’s first visitors in May 2000, will return to the Turbine Hall, and Roman Ondak's interactive artwork, Measuring the Universe, invites visitors to mark their height on the Turbine Hall wall for an evolving exhibition.

A trail of 25 significant and symbolic artworks – both classics and new acquisitions – will guide visitors through the museum. Highlights include Mark Rothko’s Seagram murals, Dorothea Tanning’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, an immersive multi-screen film installation by Nalini Malani, and a series of live tarot readings staged as part of Meschac Gaba’s installation.

Tate Collective members aged 16-25, meanwhile, can gain free entry to all current Tate Modern exhibitions, including Leigh Bowery!, Electric Dreams, Anthony McCall: Solid Light, and The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh.

Two new free exhibitions have also opened in time for the museum’s birthday, reflecting its forward-looking commitment. ‘A Year in Art: 2050’ explores how artists have envisioned possible futures, while ‘Gathering Ground’ delves into the connections between contemporary art, land and community at a time of ecological crises.

Dance the night –and day– away

What's a party without incredible music? As part of the Birthday Weekender, the museum is inviting the public to attend a series of day and evening music performances.

Tonight, BBC Radio 1 DJ Jaguar and Romy will headline the Tanks. If you missed out, there's still plenty to see: Saturday, catch performances by Crystallmess, DAYTIMERS and Queer Bruk, as well as a headliner set by CULTURE FM in the museum's Tanks.

Sunday, beginning at noon, you can drop in as DJ House of Dad performs a chill afternoon set.

Indulge in retail therapy

Uniqlo, a long-time partner of the Tate, has just unveiled a special, pocket-size 'gift shop' on the museum's ground floor. Here you can find fashion and accessories inspired by works in the museum's collection, like t-shirts featuring an Andy Warhol self-portrait, Guerilla Girls' 1986 ‘Dearest Art Collector’ , and an illustration of the Tate itself by Peter Saville. The store also features fun customisation stations, where fashionistas can get their duds upgraded with bespoke embroidery.

Catch a talk

The Birthday Weekender will also encompass adjacent events, such as panel discussions with Tate Modern’s director, Karin Hindsbo; chief curator, Catherine Wood; as well as artists in the museum's Starr Cinema.

The museum will hold creative coding workshops, community conversations, and interactive Make Studios. You can also join Pop-up Ten Minute Talks; British Sign Language and audio description tours; and workshops by Kazvare Made in the Uniquo Tate Shop.

Bold and geometric, Toteme's newest store brings together a couple of firsts. It is the Swedish fashion brand's first collaboration with the Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron; it is also the company's first store in China. Even so, the expert hand of the architects and their close collaboration with the brand ensured a space that feels not only true to the fashion house's unique DNA – its natural, minimalist and softly geometric feel – but also enhances it through a spatial experience that is at once mesmerising and calming.

Walk through Toteme by Herzog & de Meuron

The store, set in Beijing, occupies an existing structure, which the team in Switzerland redesigned, 'chiselling' into white stone to create a sculptural, pleated effect and dynamic compositions using cool metal and a monochromatic palette. The result is powerful, sculptural – and very fitting to the apparel it contains.

'Our collaboration with Toteme was based on mutual trust and inspiration from the very beginning. Toteme co-founder Karl Lindman and his team provided us with a balance of creative freedom and clear, concise feedback and direction. Our team worked seamlessly together with the Toteme team, creating a truly collaborative and constructive partnership,' says Herzog & de Meuron's Andreas Fries.

He continues: 'They were highly supportive and engaged happily in our design process, which combines strong conceptual thinking with research, development, and a willingness to embrace trial and error to reach the most fitting outcome.'

Moments that link to the store's geographical and cultural context exist too – with the lacquered treatment of the central, grand steel staircase, the Gonshi (natural stones) from a traditional Chinese garden at the space's heart, and the high-gloss black lacquer wood texture of the floor all nodding to the store's Asian location.

Within the store, Toteme's ready-to-wear, shoes, small leather goods, accessories, jewellery and bags from the spring/summer 2025 collection are on offer, alongside the new ‘Bevel’ bag, available here in three exclusive colourways.

'The Beijing flagship was our first project with Herzog & de Meuron, and it was an inspiring collaboration where we exchanged ideas organically. We wanted to create something that hadn’t been done before, that played with the architecture and space itself to communicate Toteme's aesthetic values in a highly evocative and immersive way. They were the ideal partners to push the boundaries of our visual language,' says Lindman.

herzogdemeuron.com

toteme.com

In one of Berlin’s most storied urban residences, Am Tacheles, creative director Garth Roberts has unveiled a new interiors project which he explains is ‘to explore the diverse aesthetic and emotional potential of domestic life, shaped by the iconic architecture of these living spaces’.

For 'Rooms of Am Tacheles’ (ROA) x Vignettes, Roberts worked with three design studios – Fernando Laposse, Mexico City; Lotto Studio, Berlin, and Studioutte, Milan – to design interiors concepts which aim to highlight the contemporary living space within Herzog & de Meuron’s cosmopolitan architecture.

Each studio took up residency in a room in Am Tacheles, and drew on one aspect of the development to interpret through their work.

Rooms of Am Tacheles 'Vignettes' project

Rather than displaying fully furnished interiors, for each 'vignette' Roberts embraced the unfinished and the exaggerated with a focus on using unusual materials and forms to create a visually tactile experience.

Studioutte referenced brutalism in their interpretation. Utilising the expansive room heights and exposed concrete of the Herzog & de Meuron building they softened the space with dramatic black curtains which cascaded over three metres.

For Fernando Laposse, the playfully pink nature of Brandlhuber+Muck Petzet‘s building attracted his eye. Referencing the entrance of natural pink stone and its groovy mirrored ceiling, Laposse’s interior interpretation included challenging more traditional habits and dived into the origins behind materials, sustainability and culture.

In Grüntuch Ernst Architects’ building Lotto Studio had a more minimalist approach. The building, although the smallest, is well lit and spacious. Matching the building’s floor-to-ceiling window frames, the Berlin design studio created custom aluminium furniture which crafts an indoor-outdoor narrative.

Roberts’ ‘Vignettes’ project is a realisation of intricate and unusual contemporary design and encourages playful thinking, ‘This project is aspirational.' said Roberts of the work. 'It not only presents creative interiors, it sparks the imagination and inspires its audiences.'

Built in 1908, Tacheles, as it was then known, fell into disrepair after the Second World War but saw new life in the 1990s as Berlin's biggest squat, a countercultural hub where artists could work and live. In recent years, it was completely redeveloped by Herzog & de Meuron, transforming the once derelict space into a new multi-purpose hub for offices, high-end apartments, retail stores, and a photography museum. Roberts was tasked with designing the interior spaces of the development – combining elegance with practicality while respecting architectural integrity.

garthglobal.com
fernandolaposse.com
lotto.studio
studioutte.com

Herzog & de Meuron has completed a new Children's Hospital in Zurich – a project the studio hopes will become an important healing environment for its patients. The design, which was explored during the Royal Academy's recent Herzog & de Meuron exhibition in London, is set at the foot of the city's Burghölzli hill and contains an acute-care hospital and an adjacent research and teaching facility.

Exploring Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich

The architects took a holistic approach in their design, treating the various hospital elements – and the further healthcare buildings in the surrounding urban setting – as a 'miniature city'. Collaborating closely with the different stakeholders and specialists involved in the project, as well as the hospital’s users, the practice's desire was to craft a place that is functional but feels human and caring – an architecture that contributes towards healing.

'People in hospitals are often in life-threatening situations. That is an exceptional challenge not only for patients but also for relatives, carers and physicians. Ironically, hospitals all over the world and even in Switzerland are often the ugliest places. For the past 20 years, we have zeroed in on this issue, because we are convinced that architecture can contribute to the healing process; it can make a substantial difference,' says practice director Jacques Herzog.

‘Here at the Children’s Hospital, people can see for themselves how daylight coming in from outside and variations in proportion can animate and change a room, how plants and vegetation can blur the distinction between inside and outside and how materials are not just beautiful to look at but also pleasing to the touch. We designed all these things with conscious intent so that people can perceive them, sense them and ultimately feel better. Architecture can contribute to healing.’

The hospital wing features a concrete frame that spans three storeys. It is clad and extended with intricate wooden infills which blend with rich foliage, creating an environment that feels close to nature. Indeed, the scheme's landscaping was extensive and included the planting of over 250 trees.

The research element of the project is located in a cylindrical structure across five floors, with an atrium at its heart. Openness and creative exchange are encouraged inside, while the lush greenery makes its appearance here too.

As a result of the project's careful thinking, materials, construction methods and planting, both wings 'have been awarded the platinum certification of building sustainability as specified by the strict guidelines of the SGNI (Swiss Sustainable Building Council)', the architects say.

'The curved, three-storey main façade with its endearing small-scale wooden houses and variously sloped roofs offers a friendly and warm welcome to young patients and their families. The acute care hospital is organised like a town – with courtyards, streets, alleys, and squares,' says Pierre de Meuron.

'These, along with the thoughtful use of wood and carefully placed art installations, provide clear and memorable orientation, plenty of daylight, and a connection to nature. The spatial diversity, with views both inside and out, also offers spaces for children, teenagers, and their families to stay and play, as well as restful break areas for hospital staff.'

While different, the two buildings in the new Herzog & de Meuron hospital were treated as complementary, the architects stress. The overall composition feels balanced and everything is subtly and meaningfully connected – looking after the wellbeing of patients, their relatives and the employees, and fostering an environment where science can thrive.

herzogdemeuron.com

Molteni&C announced an auction in support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). For the occasion, the Italian furniture company has created a special edition of the ‘Porta Volta’ armchairs by Herzog & de Meuron, in a distinctive pink hue. The auction will be active on liveauctioneers.com until 31 October 2023, with 100 per cent of the proceeds being donated to BCRF. 

'The “Porta Volta” chair by Herzog & de Meuron marks a new chapter of collaboration between Molteni&C and the renowned international architectural firm, long-term partners of the Molteni Group,' reads a note from the company. The chair's design is defined by a solid wood frame, with a curved back whose enveloping forms stretch into armrests for added comfort.

Launched at Salone del Mobile 2023, the ‘Porta Volta’ armchair is connected to Herzog & de Meuron's Fondazione Feltrinelli at 327 Porta Volta, Milan, a location that also houses the Molteni Group's Unifor showroom in the city, whose interiors were designed by the Swiss architects. 

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation was founded by Evelyn H Lauder in 1993, and today it is the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world. The foundation operates by investing in scientific research to examine all aspects of the disease, fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations between the best minds in science. 'BCRF is accelerating the entire field and moving us closer to the answers we urgently need to be the end of breast cancer.'

To learn more about the Breast Cancer Research foundation, visit BCRF.org

Bid for the ‘Porta Volta’ armchairs via liveauctioneers.com

Sixth&Blanco, Herzog & de Meuron's inaugural project in Texas, has unveiled its first interior imagery. The scheme, a mixed-use development in the city's heart, will feature an impressive mass timber structure and was overseen by the renowned Swiss architecture studio – both in its overall building design, and its interiors. 

A first look inside Sixth&Blanco by Herzog & de Meuron

The project's position and context played an important role in its design. The Herzog & de Meuron partner in charge of the scheme, Simon Demeuse, said: 'The neighbourhoods surrounding the project site, Castle Hill and Clarksville, have a very pleasant and relaxed character, in large part due to the historic brick and wooden houses and bungalows, most with generous exterior porches, laid out along shaded tree-lined streets. This is a landscape, an urbanism, and a type of architecture that fits Austin’s climate very well. Even though it is denser than the adjacent neighbourhoods, the Sixth & Blanco project expresses these basic qualities.' 

'Equal weight is given to landscape as to architecture on all levels of the development, where exterior shaded spaces and porches serve almost all interior spaces throughout the project. The finishes also reflect the vernacular, as the light wooden structure is clad in wood and brick – two very domestic, simple materials that match the surrounding architecture.'

This aims to be a pioneering design for the city, not only bringing together a substantial mixed-use programme within a broken-down arrangement and user-friendly scale, but also through its timber construction, which supports sustainable architecture practices. 

Demeuse added: 'The project demonstrates that even with a dense commercial brief, one can provide pleasant, human-scaled, inside-outside environments for all. It is an architecture where the exterior spaces are as much cared for as the interior spaces, and a building that utilises smart passive design to provide shading and shelter so people can enjoy being outside, open their doors and windows, and have access to plants, gardens, and nature throughout. While these sound like rather simple and obvious features, they are unfortunately often overlooked.'

Sixth&Blanco, commissioned by Austin-based restaurateur and hotelier Larry McGuire, co-founder and partner of MML Hospitality, and Austin-based developer Riverside Resources, includes only ten private homes. They are arranged on the upper two levels of the five-storey building. Particular attention was given to the massing, so that it does not appear unwieldy and monolithic, but also to the relationship between indoors and outdoors, as well as natural light access, for the residents. 

At the same time, further sustainable strategies include reducing energy and resource consumption through clever construction planning, tapping into renewable energy sources, and passively cooling the interiors. 

Beyond the residential element, Sixth&Blanco also features a hotel, shared, luxurious amenities for residents and hotel guests, a private members’ club, and a collection of retail, art galleries, and restaurants. 'The project is not a singular gesture but rather a sum of its individual parts. The building is, in essence, a horizontally stacked structure, stepping back as it grows taller, while the density successively decreases to maximize daylight and make room for landscaped gardens. At the ground and first floor levels, the development is porous – one can just walk from the surrounding neighbourhood through the project,' says Demeuse. 

Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024 with a view to complete in 2026.

herzogdemeuron.com 

sixthandblanco.com 

For the October 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, we selected the highlights from Euroluce at Milan’s Salone del Mobile 2023. Our edit includes new products from big shots such as Lasvit, Cassina and Flos, as well as independent studios such as Pelle and Ross Gardam, and was photographed using both digital and film techniques by our long-term collaborator Luke Evans. 

‘The process of composing and lighting the lamps in the studio was so exciting,’ explains Wallpaper* head of interiors Olly Mason. ‘By shooting them on film we were able to add this layer of process to the series, inverting the images of the lamps so that their lightness became shadow, and producing this optical contrast and surface texture.’ Mason then spent a day in the darkroom with Luke playing with light and darkness, exploring the printed qualities, softness and textures created through film and printing, to stunning effect.

Discover the brightest new lighting design

‘Polaris’ floor lamp, by David Rockwell, for Lasvit

This stellar floor lamp is part of Constellation, a collection by American architect and designer David Rockwell. The New York-based founder of the cross-disciplinary firm the Rockwell Group was inspired by one of his favourite local landmarks, the celestial mural at Grand Central Terminal, which features over 2,500 stars set against a turquoise backdrop. Hand-crafted in metal and glass, the ‘Polaris’ lamp is available in bespoke configurations. ‘What defined this collaboration for me was the sheer passion of Lasvit’s team of experts and the joy of creation we shared at each step in the process,’ says Rockwell. ‘Each lighting fixture serves a dual function: to dazzle the eye as a focal point and to unify any setting in which it is placed.’

‘Polaris’ floor lamp, price on request, by David Rockwell, for Lasvit
lasvit.com

‘Pool 02’ lamp, by Laurids Gallée

This limited-edition polymer resin light is made in the Netherlands by Laurids Gallée, an Austrian designer and Design Academy Eindhoven graduate now based in Rotterdam. Since launching his eponymous studio in 2017, Gallée has explored new ways to incorporate traditional and folkloric elements, and experimented with various materials. A recent focus on resin has seen him create a side table with a grid pattern, a monolithic ceiling light, a translucid bench and, in 2023, this ice blue ‘Pool 02’ lamp, which turns a warm yellow when switched on. Its fluid shape and soft ridges create an eye-catching effect that recalls the ever-changing way light is reflected on water.

‘Pool 02’ lamp, price on request, by Laurids Gallée
lauridsgallee.com

‘Dreispitz’ lamp, by Herzog & de Meuron, for Artemide 

This graphically pleasing pendant by Herzog & de Meuron (who have an exhibition at London’s RA until 15 October 2023) is available in understated black and silver, but also in a striking bright green version. Originally designed for the Swiss architects’ Helsinki Dreispitz (‘tricorn’) project, an archive and apartment building in Basel, it can support three different light sources that slide into its triangular base to form an almost clover-shaped profile. With a choice of four different lengths, and diffused or controlled lighting, it is designed to fit into any environment. It is also good for the environment, thanks to its high efficiency, intelligent industrial optimisation and the use of partially recycled, recyclable and easily dismantled materials. 

‘Dreispitz’ lamp, price on request, by Herzog & de Meuron, for Artemide
artemide.com

‘W225 Ion’ lamp, by Dirk Winkel, for Wästberg

This deceptively simple design from Wästberg, a Swedish brand with a focus on creating wellbeing through good light, is the result of years of research. Behind its understated lines, thought up by Berlin designer Dirk Winkel, lies a beautifully configurable system. It centres around a highly sophisticated miniature friction joint with cordless power connection, which is similar to those used in modern laptops and allows 360-degree rotation. A choice of arms in two different lengths, combined with various mounting options and two different optical systems, allows for a range of uses, from wide-angle workspace illumination to focused bedside reading. The state-of-the-art full-spectrum COB LED provides stunning light, further refined by a high-quality lens or reflector with prismatic diffuser. 

‘W225 Ion’ lamp, price on request, by Dirk Winkel, for Wästberg
wastberg.com

‘Vestige’ table lamp, by Ross Gardam and Peter Kovacsy, for Ross Gardam

This optical device by Melbourne label Ross Gardam was conceived to create a sense of wonderment. Featuring a solid parabolic cone with a concave face that emerges from a rectangular base, the brutalist-inspired sculptural form is made from cast crystal glass by renowned artist Peter Kovacsy, whose work in large-scale cast glass reflects the remote area of southern Western Australia where he is based. Celebrating the allure, texture, and volume of glass (bubbles in the glass create a speckled pattern when illuminated), each cast glassform is coupled with a raw aluminium base and machined conical dimmer, handmade, polished and waxed. ‘Vestige’ is available in a limited edition of five.

‘Vestige’ table lamp, A$39,545 ($25,683), by Ross Gardam and Peter Kovacsy, for Ross Gardam
rossgardam.com.au

‘44T’ table lamp, by Bocci

No two ‘44T’ lamps are identical: each aluminium canopy is variously blown, poured, carved and polished, and is an individual, irregular expression of Bocci’s research. In fact, the dendrite-like shapes were a happy discovery, initially made by pouring discarded molten iron in a bin of broken sand moulds. What’s more, the unique design features spherical light bulbs that glow without the need of electrical cables, as low-voltage electricity flows directly through the cast metal structure. There is of course a main cable to plug it in, but this element is as sculptural as the rest of the design, since its semi-rigid black fabric cord means it can be twisted into a pleasing shape to complement the organic lamp. The series also include an integral dimming system housed within a sleek brass cylinder. 

‘44T’ table lamp, $975, by Bocci
bocci.com

‘Channel’ lamp, by Pelle

Best known for its iconic ‘Bubble’ chandelier, Pelle was founded by Jean and Oliver Pelle in 2011. Its designs often look to nature for inspiration (and include architectural ornaments made from soap), but in the case of the ‘Channel’ lamp, the Brooklyn-based studio’s starting point was a practical concern: how to properly illuminate a large table surface, and brighten the overall room at the same time? The resulting ceiling fixture comprises a sleek horizontal body in waxed brush aluminium that holds four lighting components, with two beams facing upward, and another two facing downward. Completing the design are a pair of thin steel cables that double up as power conduits. 

‘Channel’ lamp, from $10,800, by Pelle
pelledesigns.com

‘Vis à Vis’ table lamp, by Michele Groppi, for Davide Groppi

A translucent UFO landing softly on your tabletop, Michele Groppi’s ‘Vis à Vis’ lamp is designed to perfectly integrate into any environment and décor. Entirely made of glass, it is totally transparent, from the thin cylindrical stem to the circular canopy, and appears to float lightly above the room. Being rechargeable (with a simple USB C charger), it can be moved around and illuminates everything without an electric cable in sight. It is part of a long line of truly stunning designs magicked up by the award-winning Davide Groppi team in Piacenza, Emilia Romagna, which range from perfectly poised, fishing rod-inspired floor lamps to a giant, meditative moon ceiling pendant.

‘Vis à Vis’ table lamp, price on request, by Michele Groppi, for Davide Groppi
davidegroppi.com

‘Bilboquet’ table lamps, by Philippe Malouin, for Flos

Philippe Malouin’s first design for Flos, this new table lamp has a unique concept based on Malouin’s experiments with magnetic elements. Taking its name and shape from the bilboquet, a French game dating from the 16th century, it comprises two coloured cylinders connected through a sleek magnetic sphere that allows the lamp to be oriented as required while also serving as a poetic decorative element. ‘The design is about changing your lighting needs throughout the day,’ says Malouin. ‘It can be used as a desk lamp, but if you just want to have drinks in your living room, you can bounce the light off of the wall to create a soft glow. I have always admired “Parentesi” by Castiglioni and the lamp’s way to change the light to achieve different moods – and this is very much what this light does.’

‘Bilboquet’ table lamps, price on request, by Philippe Malouin, for Flos
flos.com

'Dipping’ pendant, by Jordi Canudas, for Marset

Spanish designers never shy from using bold colours in their creations, and Jordi Canudas is no exception. As an experiment, the Barcelona-based designer once dipped a switched-on light-bulb in paint several times. He liked the result so much that the ‘Dipping’ pendant light was born. Available in three different sizes, it features a brilliant white hand-blown glass globe, hand-dipped in paint several times to create concentric rings of colour, in amber, blue, green, pink, off-white and black versions. The different layers of paint help to moderate the light’s intensity, while a polycarbonate cover at the top completes the spherical shape. ‘

Dipping’ pendant, price on request, by Jordi Canudas, for Marset
marset.com

‘Bijou’ pendants, by Antoni Arola, for Santa & Cole, and ‘Eitie’ table lamp and pendant, by Tobia Scarpa, for Cassina  

Named after the French word for jewel, this gem of a pendant light (pictured in red, centre) provides exceptional lighting and mesmerising reflections. Like all of Barcelona-based designer Antoni Arola’s creations, it is a bold and dramatic design that fits in perfectly with Spanish brand Santa & Cole’s carefully curated, minimalist lighting collection. The latest in a collection of geometric brass lights first launched in 2019, the ‘Bijou’ pendant features two vertical spotlights positioned on either side of a metal plate to create a sense of depth designed to enhance the entire space. Its glossy shade is available in white or red finishes, and two sizes. 

‘Bijou’ large pendant, €1,180; small, €820, both by Antoni Arola, for Santa & Cole, santacole.com

The Venetian designer and architect Tobia Scarpa initially created ‘Eitie’ (also pictured) as a wall installation for the walls of the Benetton Foundation Research Centre, which he has been involved with since its creation in 1987 (working with his wife Afra, he has designed and renovated many buildings for the Italian company since their first collaboration in 1964). Comprising a pendant light, table lamp and floor lamp, the ‘Eitie’ collection riffs on the idea of luminous strokes that can be reconfigured thanks to unique black metal circular connectors. Each seemingly simple design is composed of two or three linear lights that can be moved around and rotated 360 degrees to create different visual effects.

‘Eitie’ table lamp and pendant, both price on request, by Tobia Scarpa, for Cassina cassina.com

A version of this article appears in the October 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

SIP Main Campus, a new building that forms part of a growing district focusing on pharmaceuticals, medicine, and research in Switzerland, has just been completed by Herzog & de Meuron. The office scheme, which is located in Allschwil, a stone’s throw from the French border, offers modern workspace adjacent to the developing area's numerous facilities – including sports courts and a recreational area – alongside lots green space for its users. 

SIP Main Campus: contemporary Swiss workspace by Herzog and de Meuron

SIP Main Campus is ‘based on the concept of a “courtyard house”,’ write the architects. And while, at 50,000 sq m of usable floor area and some 2500-3000 employees strong, this headquarters is far from domestic in scale – it's actually the largest structure in its wider area – the architectural approach sought to mimic the warmth and wellbeing offered in residential settings. 

To this end, greenery was placed at the heart of the scheme, with a richly planted courtyard at its core, defining the design. It connects to the overall district by being one of a series of green spaces ‘contributing to a good microclimate and allowing connections from one property to the next.’

Meanwhile, a grid-based facade made of poured-in situ concrete creates a juxtaposition between natural and manmade context. The material was selected to absorb ‘vertical loads and serve as bracing for wind and potential earthquakes.’ Within the grid, loggias offer space for encounters, contemplation and connection with the outside. The structure’s slightly slanted vertical elements help add a softness, as well as creating thicker shading for the businesses and restaurants occupying the ground floor. 

Inside, four feature staircases in organic shapes carve dramatic circulation space, and connect the workspaces with communal areas and the building's main auditorium – which is also available for external events, reaching out to the local, wider community in the area. 

These circulation hubs also feature site specific artwork by Basel-based artist Renée Levi. They include a custom-made wool tapestry, Nina, which hangs in one of the auditorium walls.  

herzogdemeuron.com 

Herzog & de Meuron has been active in architecture for the last four decades, but while the work of Swiss studio’s founders Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron undoubtedly has a signature twist, you don’t always know their buildings when you see them. The pair has an intuitive and creative approach which has aided them in creating an international company and brand, the legacy of which will last long into the indefinite future. Their research and concept-based approach to architecture sets them apart from their peers and their global reach is impressive; they truly are one of the most famous contemporary architecture firms in the world. 

From London’s era-defining Tate Modern and its celebratory extension to the highly complex Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, their projects span zeitgeist-shaping cultural moments. They have also been shaping the future of care with the REHAB clinic in their native Basel and their upcoming children’s hospital in Zurich. Additionally, they have long had an eye on sustainable architecture. Herzog & de Meuron are architects with a great deal of foresight. How do they do it? 

Herzog & de Meuron: into the mind of the studio's founders

The eponymous exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, opening this week, sheds light on the practice, its methods and ethos. One of the most fascinating details to know about Herzog and de Meuron is that having met in 1957 at primary school, they have known each other for almost their entire lives. 

'What I think this means is while we have, as Jacques says, different agendas, Jacques does his thing, and I do my thing and we trust each other blindly,' Pierre de Meuron explains. 

Sitting in their offices in Basel, de Meuron reminisces about bonding over a model rollercoaster, crediting the intuitive relationship they have on the deep sense of kinship that one has with a lifelong friend. They are still based in the arty Swiss city of Basel, host to multiple museums and collections as well as one of the world’s most important art fairs, Art Basel. 

‘I didn't know what architecture was, I was never inspired by the idea, ideology or beliefs,’ says Herzog, who started out interested in fine art and exhibited as an artist before switching to architecture. 

They are famous for their collaborations and friendships with artists from Ai Weiwei to Rémy Zaugg and Thomas Ruff and the way they execute ideas speaks to an artistic approach and is something Herzog is leaning into in some of his most recent projects like the Motorway Chapel near Andeer in Grisons, Switzerland. 

‘Our work is architecture, it often has something conceptual that reminds you of an artwork, but it’s so interesting because it’s this conceptual basis that makes it so architectural,’ Herzog explains. ’There are other projects, very small ones that I work on… They are more like art projects because nothing is given, you know, no brief, not a precise site, no budget, no zoning. So how do you do something if nothing is given? These are normally more the conditions under which an artist is working rather than an architect and these things are very rare.’

Each project is foregrounded by a huge amount of research encompassing the local area from the bottom up, its people, its buildings, zoning and how the built environment works and doesn’t work for the people who use it. This benefits not only the planning and competition process but aids their results which although they can stand out from their surroundings also seem to meld into them. 

One example of this is their work on the concert hall Stadtcasino Basel, one of many projects in their home city. It blends seamlessly into the Basel city centre on the outside and offers us up into a Lynchian dream world once in the foyer, readied for the transporting power of the music performed in the concert hall which they restored to its original design. 

This long process is archived going back to the first projects Herzog & de Meuron ever worked on. This archive is held in Kabinett, Basel, a studio, high-concept storage facility and charitable foundation in Helsinki Dreispitz, a building by the architects sat at the juncture of two Swiss cantons. Elements of this feature in the Royal Academy show, revealing the selective process of archiving, which they see as essential to the way they realise buildings and execute town planning. This is, according to exhibition curator and head of architecture and Heinz curator at Royal Academy of Arts Vicky Richardson, unique. 

‘It’s very difficult to think of another practice you could say that they are like, apart from in the most obvious sense of their size and their global scope – and of course, we’ve become used to these sort of global practices, like Foster and Partners and Bjarke Ingles Group and others – but I think there’s definitely more to it than that, she says. 

Herzog & de Meuron at the Royal Academy: explore the show

This unique approach to working is reflected in their approach to exhibiting, as the newly launched exhibition shows us their process, including a film and a AR aspect, which seeks to put the people and their experience of the buildings first. A strong focus of this is the idea of ‘care’ in the shape of a film by Bêka and Lemoine, and a room dedicated to an in-progress children’s hospital in Zurich. It reflects the practice's focus going forward.

The displays are organised in three sections. A room full of architectural models greets the visitors, as they step into a part of the studio's archive, with models, tests and mock ups spread across rows of timber shelves. This is also where the AR experience begins, by downloading a specially designed app and exploring different projects with an enhanced view, following graphic prompts next to the selected schemes to be 'augmented'. 

The Bêka and Lemoine produced film follows, as the bustle of the first room, full of shapes and information, is swapped for a darker room and a more quiet, screening experience. The filmmakers transport guests to the halls of Herzog and de Meuron's rehab clinic in Basel, as it is seen through the eyes of its users - patients and staff. It's powerful and moving, and sets the mood for the last section, which is dedicated to a big, current project by the firm - the Zurich children's hospital. Here, models, interactive video elements and more AR allows the public to delve into not only the thinking behind the design, but the design itself, as the building, currently in construction (and set to complete in 2024), can be explored thoroughly as both an in-progress piece, and a finished, virtual space. The idea of care is central - healthcare, but also caring, and support as a whole. 

‘Ultimately, what I think architecture and planning should do is open up potentials,’ Herzog mused. ‘Potentials are sometimes obvious, but they are not discovered, they are not excavated, they are not being used. You cannot do anything about this as an architect, but with the money that you’re given, the site and the materials that you use you can both maximise these potentials and make something beautiful.’

Herzog & de Meuron will run 14 July - 15 October 2023 at The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries at Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK.

royalacademy.org.uk 

herzogdemeuron.com 

With its dramatic cylindrical structure, Herzog & de Meuron’s One Park Drive residential tower in London’s Canary Wharf is a typically monumental landmark from the architecture studio that also designed the jagged upper façade of the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre in Cambridge and the angular form of the Royal College of Art’s Battersea campus. Inside, the new One Park Drive penthouses with interiors by the Swiss architecture firm and furnishings and styling by Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio sit in calm contrast to the busy, alternating lattices and horizontal platforms of the building’s exterior, while the inner courtyard’s organic tones contribute to a quiet oasis in the bustling hub of London offices.

In curating the homes' furnishings, the team at Design Research Studio ‘decided to imagine the spaces through the persona of an international collector’, remarks Tom Dixon. The rooms have been personalised with bespoke pieces by the brand, which he has formed from scrap metals, wood and ceramics to create sculptural works of art. 

Tranquil textures appear throughout, with a largely concrete and wooden make-up, while timber-framed, floor-to-ceiling windows open up the 56th-floor space. Soft-edged structural pillars and a gracefully curving staircase – a central feature of the residences – are echoed in light fittings by Alvar Aalto and Ingo Maurer, and rounded bathroom and kitchen fittings in white stone.

Design Research Studio has ensured simple forms remain at the fore of the One Park Drive penthouse spaces with the inclusion of Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s ‘Soriana’ armchair and ottoman for Cassina, and chairs by Verner Panton. Bespoke additions continue to punctuate the rooms with a one-of-a-kind desk designed by Belgian architect Frans Vossen and custom-made furniture from Tom Dixon throughout. 

Artist Alexander Calder has inspired a new exhibition space in downtown Philadelphia. Calder Gardens, situated on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, encompasses both a building by Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron and gardens by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf.

An influx of natural light unites the elements of the just-unveiled design, which connects the outdoors and indoors with easy fluidity. Open, spacious galleries will become a showcase for works curated by New York’s Calder Foundation, from mobiles to sculptures and paintings. The artworks, installed throughout the interior and exterior spaces, respond to the seasons in a geometric celebration of nature.

‘Our intention for Calder Gardens is not only to create the ideal environment for the public to encounter my grandfather’s work but also to elevate personal contemplation and reflection,’ says Calder Foundation president Alexander SC Rower. ‘Calder’s role as a pioneer of experiential art is essential to his legacy. For viewers who open themselves up to the possibilities of his mobiles and stabiles, the unexpected takes root. His objects continuously unfold in real time.’

Herzog & de Meuron builds on Calder’s celebration of the familiar in a design that eschews building above ground, preferring to sculpt new spaces in the ground in a conceptual rethink of traditional architectural forms. ‘We were looking for space to present Calder’s work in a new and unprecedented way,’ says Jacques Herzog, founding partner along with Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron. ‘That space in the making eventually grew into a whole sequence of different galleries and also rather unexpected spaces, niches and gardens; such as the apse and the quasi-galleries or open plan gallery, the sunken or vestige gardens.’

The space is set to become a tranquil foil for the naturalistic beauty of Piet Oudolf’s garden, the antithesis of the Parkway’s manicured spaces. ‘I see my gardens as living sculptures where change is constant,’ Oudolf says. ‘The site is like a canvas to work on, and each plant has a personality that must work with the others. The composition of the garden is variable and will evolve through the seasons. For Calder Gardens, the horticultural design must also serve the works of art. My hope is that people will take the time to stand still and think here, to fully experience these elements together and have an emotional reaction that stays with them long after their visit. It’s not about what you see, but what you sense.’

The gardens will make natural surroundings for the reflective metal-clad building, which is set to be nestled unobtrusively in the landscape. Adds Herzog: ‘Not only galleries in the classical sense, but every corner and angle, every stair and corridor should be offering itself up as a place to put art.’

INFORMATION

caldergardens.org

herzogdemeuron.com

oudolf.com

As you approach The Discovery Centre in Cambridge, designed by Herzog & Meuron for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, the building clearly stands out in its immediate surroundings. Relatively low, finely carved and elegant-looking, this new research and development hub, part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (CBC), is located in a part of town that is currently in intense development – the Cambridge Southern Fringe Area. Modern on the inside, subtle on the outside, its design credentials cleverly belie its size. 

This, along with its need for flexibility, were the key drivers for the design, explains Herzog & Meuron partner Stefan Marbach: ‘We wanted to consciously keep the building low, at three floors, to ensure there are easy connections within. Because of the round shape, it never feels too big. At the same time, it's a landscape of different situations.'

The Discovery Centre has been in the works since 2013, when British-Swedish multinational AstraZeneca commissioned the leading Swiss architecture studio for a hub that would consolidate its various research facilities and innovation labs. The building now includes these as well as offices, meeting spaces, a conference centre, an auditorium, a café and a restaurant.

AstraZeneca building champions transparency and light

Part of the brief was to create a ‘porous' structure, a building that can be embedded in the local community and landscape; and The Discovery Centre hopes to achieve just that. Designed in a loosely circular form – or rather, perhaps more accurately, a triangular floorplan with rounded edges – it contains a green central courtyard that will remain open and accessible to the public, aiming perhaps to bust the reputation that sees science labs as more opaque, mysterious, insular places. Outside the building’s strict perimeter, lush architectural gardens, dotted by artwork, sprawl outwards and it's hard to tell where the centre ends and the public realm begins. Visitors and passers-by can sit on the lawns, wherever.

Inside, with the exception of lab areas (which are cleverly designed to be ‘plug-and-play' for utmost flexibility, Marbach explains), the interior is mostly occupied by open-plan workspaces. ‘Light and transparency were key elements in the design,' Marbach notes. Bringing natural light deep into the floorplate was a key driver for Herzog & de Meuron, which opened up views throughout the space, added glass partitions and punctured holes to connect floors, in order to enhance the idea of collaboration and cross-pollination between departments within AstraZeneca. 

The choice of materials clearly defines different areas in the building. There is natural stone for the entrances; rough sawn solid oak for the sculptural main stairs and the inner ring area; and carpet for the offices and other workspace floors. Ducts and services are hidden under the floor in most areas, but are exposed, hanging from the ceiling, in the laboratories, signifying the change in use. Smart ventilation recycles the air inside frequently and helps keep temperatures stable. 

A sawtooth roof allows light to stream through openings, and continues the theme of the sawtooth, high-performance glass façade, which helps break down the overall volume. This feature also abstractly references the historical architecture of Cambridge colleges (in a similar way that the central courtyard hints at a contemporary version of the university quadrant). 

The building has just been inaugurated by HRH Prince Charles, who highlighted the structure's net-zero approach, citing his recently launched Terra Carta Seal, bestowed to private sector companies that distinguish themselves for their sustainability efforts. Indeed, sleek and technologically advanced, the structure also features some strong sustainable architecture credentials, such as the use of geothermal energy, recycled rainwater and smart use of natural light and shading. It’s an approach fitting of the building – with its high-spec research and high-level controlled environments – which is home to some of the world's most cutting-edge science.

INFORMATION

herzogdemeuron.com

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron make their South Korean debut with a monolithic new office building and cultural space in Seoul that boasts a majestic triangular silhouette. The 11-storey structure sits at the crest of a broad avenue in Seoul’s bustling Gangnam district, surrounded by an array of high-end fashion boutiques and flagships, including Louis Vuitton (designed by Frank Gehry), Dolce & Gabbana (Jean Nouvel) and Dior (Christian de Portzamparc). Housing the corporate HQ of ST International, a Korean energy and mining conglomerate, and its constituent SongEun Art & Cultural Foundation, which operates a nonprofit art space, this striking edifice is set to become a contemporary architectural landmark amid the Korean capital’s architecture and dense urban fabric.

Rising from the street like a sheer cliff face nearly 60m in height, the south-facing front façade presents a continuous plane of concrete interrupted by two long, slender windows that puncture the otherwise uniform surface. These precise incisions, the larger of which is more than 13m tall, accentuate the verticality of the structure while hinting at the spaces contained within. Both corners at the bottom of the façade are cut away to create lateral recesses that serve as points of entry for pedestrians and vehicles. As visitors pass beneath the suspended mass of the building’s cantilevered upper floors towards the main entrance, they emerge into an airy courtyard ringed by a walled garden that separates this backyard-like space from the neighbouring plots. It is here that the glass-covered rear façade begins its angular ascent, receding from view as it climbs towards the sharply pointed apex.

Façade comprises a unique patchwork

In contrast to the highly optimised architectural elements, certain aspects of the structure retain an unmistakable craft sensibility. Nowhere is this more apparent than the textured patchwork of intricate patterns that lends the building’s concrete surfaces a tactile quality: instead of using mass-produced modular panels to create the formwork necessary for casting concrete, builders installed several thousand square plywood boards, each of which yielded a unique imprint of its natural wood grain on the concrete as it hardened. An ode to the meaning behind the name SongEun, which translates as ‘hidden pine tree’, this endlessly rippling organic matrix induces a sense of wonder and a visceral urge to reach out and touch it, imbuing this inherently inert substance with an evocative resonance.

Despite its iconic profile and formidable presence, Herzog & de Meuron’s design does not manifest any singular aesthetic or thematic inspiration. Rather, its form is prescribed by its function, as the architects explain: ‘The triangular shape results from the building envelope specified for the site, maximising the floor area and exploiting the sculptural potential of the zoning laws.’

The building’s slanted rear façade dictates the internal programming of interior space; since the horizontal area of each floor decreases as its elevation increases, the upper eight floors encompass 2,032 sq m of offices while the exhibition spaces that occupy the lower floors (two above ground and one underground) comprise 3,513 sq m.

Practical design concerns also inform architectural decisions within the structure. The focal point of the ground-floor lobby is a spiralling vertical layer of concrete that carves a nautilus-shaped void out of the lobby floor, opening onto a cavernous subterranean exhibition space two floors below. Tracing the outer perimeter of this hollow concrete corkscrew is a circular staircase that leads upwards to a second floor exhibition space. More than just an aesthetic flourish, this prominent design element also discloses an inevitable spatial constraint generated by the internal curvature of the parking ramp, circumscribing the gaping cavity excavated from the centre of the lobby.

SongEun building and its debut exhibition

To inaugurate the completed building, a collaborative exhibition curated by Herzog & de Meuron and the SongEun Art & Cultural Foundation invites the public to explore its spaces and consider the relationship between art and architecture. The exhibition foregrounds the building itself, which audiences experience through drawings and displays related to the project’s development, including augmented reality resources that offer viewers unique perspectives on the project’s design and construction.

Elsewhere, samples of Herzog & de Meuron’s representative works are presented in the form of photographs by Thomas Ruff and architectural models from the Swiss firm’s archives. A selection of video collaborations featuring Swiss artists Rémy Zaugg and René Pulfer serve to introduce more conceptual interpretations of urbanism, landscape and memory as they relate to the built environment.

Interspersed throughout the exhibition are newly commissioned artworks by a selection of Korean contemporary artists who respond to the architecture and its site. Some of the most evocative works on view comprise a photographic series by Jihyun Jung, who accessed the building site during all phases of construction and documented its progress. An immersive architectural installation by Hoyeon Kang engages with the site's history, reproducing a typical Korean office lounge interior that might have been found in the previous building on this location. Tying aspects of architecture and fine art is a new abstract sculpture by Eunu Lee that takes inspiration from the design philosophy that has informed the enduring architectural legacy of Herzog & de Meuron.

INFORMATION

herzogdemeuron.com

If you've come across the city of Duisburg (population about half a million, nestled among the hills and valleys of Rhineland), chances are it would have been for its industrial architecture heritage, or status as the world's biggest inland port – or for its famed arts hub, the MKM Museum Küppersmühle, the centre for modern and contemporary art in Duisburg’s Inner Harbour and one of the most extensive private collections of German post-war art. And now, Swiss duo Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the museum's original architects, are back in town, celebrating the launch of their latest addition to Duisburg’s culture scene, Herzog & de Meuron’s new extension of the Küppersmühle.

A look back in MKM Museum Küppersmühle’s history

If you look at the majestic, brick structure housing the museum and get visions of the Tate Modern in London, there’s good reason. Duisburg’s Küppersmühle is also the result of the Swiss architecture studio’s skillful redesign of an existing industrial building – done around the same time too (the Tate launched in 2000 and the Duisburg project in 1999). The original structure on site was a grain mill, built in 1860 by leading local industrialist Wilhelm Vedder. This was replaced in 1908 by the complex of three buildings that makes up the museum today. Over the years a boiler house, a series of adjacent steel silos, and other buildings were added, until the facility closed down in the 1970s.

Herzog & de Meuron was first involved with the site in 1997, transforming the original complex into an art hub, aiming to give the campus a new lease of life as part of the city’s regeneration plans for this part of town (the masterplan was the work of Foster + Partners). The studio was called back again in 2013, appointed to create an extension to the impressive complex of historical buildings, kickstarting a new era for MKM Museum Küppersmühle.

The MKM Museum Küppersmühle extension

Respectful to the existing, orthogonal brick volumes on site and the wider setting, the architects created an addition that becomes a seamless part of the historical whole. ‘The new structure thus completes the existing museum complex in a visually appropriate way and forms a suitable conclusion to the row of buildings along the dock,’ they say. ‘At first glance it might seem as though the new building had always been there.’

Divided into three parts, the new addition contains exhibition halls, as well as utilities and art-handling facilities across five floors (one is underground) and a massing arrangement led by local planning guidelines that stipulate no building within 40m of the autobahn. Bridges through the existing silos connect the old and new parts – although these industrial features will serve more than one purpose as American artist James Turrell has created two permanent site-specific installations for them, which are planned to be revealed in 2022. Materials were chosen to complement and draw on the historical fabric. 

A striking, curved staircase connects all floors in the new section, and supports circulation flow throughout. At the same time, through its terracotta tone and textured concrete materiality, it echoes, together with the wider project, the overall character of the Küppersmühle ‘as a typical industrial facility of the 19th and 20th centuries’ – an approach that helps to establish this museum not only as a functional, modern home for the arts, but also as a considered piece of contemporary architecture.

INFORMATION
herzogdemeuron.com

Dynamic Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron’s very first residential high-rise in the UK, One Park Drive in London, has just welcomed its first residents. The scheme is situated in the capital's diverse Canary Wharf area – a part of town previously more associated with its iconic workspace towers, but now fast boosting its residential offering, of which this  project is part. It creates a new option of contemporary, waterside living for London's ever-changing, and ever-in-demand housing scene. 

One Park Drive, a skyscraper of some 58 floors, with a distinctive, highly articulated, geometric façade, was designed by Herzog & de Meuron, while the project also features interiors by Goddard Littlefair, and Bowler James Brindley. The cleverly sculptural exterior elegantly breaks down the development's overall volume, ensuring it relates to its high-rise built surroundings but also connects with the area's nature – the greenery and significant water element of Canary Wharf. 

Arranged on abstractly circular floorplates, the project features meticulously planned apartment interiors, as well as a range of amenities for residents, such as reception, 24/7 concierge, lounge, cinema, library, and a fully equiped health club. The circular form also ‘softens' the building’s overall effect, clearly separating it from the area's nearby commercial offering. 

The apartments are divided into four distinct categories: the lower Loft, middle Cluster, upper Bay apartments and Panoramic penthouses. These ensure a variety of sizes and configurations, all connecting strongly with the outdoors through large openings, sliding screens or terraces. A soft colour palette inside is complemented by interior material choices – including exposed concrete walls, profiled timber panelling and natural stone –  to craft a serene, warm whole. 

One Park Drive, now over 70 per cent sold, forms part of the Canary Wharf Estate’s ongoing plans to increase the area's residential options, joining more recently completed work, such as 10 Park Drive by Stanton Williams.

INFORMATION

herzogdemeuron.com

residential.canarywharf.com

The awaited M+ visual culture museum in Hong Kong designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron will open in 2021, it has been announced. The structure – construction now complete – has drawn considerable attention since plans were first announced almost a decade ago.

Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ is the first global museum of contemporary visual culture in Asia dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design, architecture, and moving image. There will also be a curatorial emphasis on Hong Kong visual culture from across the last two centuries. The museum has already produced a number of off-site and satellite exhibitions, and even an international symposium, but the completion of its ‘forever home' on the Victoria Harbour waterfront is an anticipated development, with the monumental structure long-lauded as one of the museum's most impressive attributes.

The museum – with a total footprint of 65,000 sq m, including 17,000 sq m of exhibition space across 33 galleries – is shaped like a ‘T', with horizontal and vertical volumes intersecting. The slender tower is topped by an expansive podium, offering unobstructed views of the waterfront.

The tower and a second-floor podium (housing much of the exhibition space, intended to create a seamless visitor experience) are formed from concrete structures clad in ceramic tiles that reflect changing light and weather conditions. This is a departure from the predominantly glass and steel façades favoured by nearby skyscrapers. The tower façade also features an LED display system, which will broadcast content from and related to the museum, adding a sense of interactivity to the already electric Hong Kong skyline.

Jacques Herzog, founding partner of Herzog & de Meuron, says M+ is ‘locally inspired, but at the same time universal and open; it is for the people and visitors across the world’. He articulates that diversity is intrinsic to the museum's DNA. ‘[The museum] best expresses where we should go as a world culture, where diversity, equality, and access to art of all kinds are expressed from the very beginning.'

Herzog & de Meuron – in collaboration with TFP Farrells and Arup – won the coveted design project against keen competition (think: Snøhetta, Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Toyo Ito & Associates) in 2013.

INFORMATION

mplus.org.hk

The Volkshaus has been a Basel landmark since its creation on the 14th century, a chunk of town hosting a variety of uses and often described as a ‘city within a city'. It has had many adaptations and additions since its inception. Now, its cluster of buildings have been reunited and are ready for the next chapter in this long history – its opening as a boutique hotel designed by locally based and internationally acclaimed architects Herzog & de Meuron. 

The beloved historic complex's transformation produced a chic hotel with 45 rooms – a clear departure from its immediately prior use as office space. Other past lives had included a concert hall, restaurant, bar and shop, conference rooms, administrative offices, and living quarters for some of the staff – some overlapping. Now, ‘the original diversity of the Volkshaus Basel has been reanimated and made fully accessible to the public,' explain the architects. 

A big part of the project was going through the building's fabric and slowly removing the ‘crust', as the architects call it, that was applied onto the structure over the years through additions and modifications. ‘We soon realised that none of the original substance had survived except for the windows, so that we had to rely on other clues to work out our design,' explains the team. ‘Historical plans of the bedrooms in the attic were one source of information — simple rooms with bed, closet, and washbasin, of the kind still found in historical hotels today, especially in Switzerland.'

‘We also drew on some of the ideas underlying [some] 2012 renovations of the brasserie and the bar to ensure a congenial, consistent ensemble of carefully selected materials and forms throughout the Volkshaus,' adds the design team. 

Herzog & de Meuron restored the original complex's spirit and tweaked areas to bring it, respectfully, to the 21st century. Clever room design incorporates sophisticated storage solutions, stained black oak wood elements, oval windows to match those on the public areas below, and a fairly flexible, open plan floorplan.

This stylish, contemporary makeover, combined with Volkshaus' engaging, public-facing functions, will no doubt reinstate this Basel icon as a vibrant local landmark.

INFORMATION

herzogdemeuron.com

volkshaus-basel.ch

Basel-based publisher Simonett & Baer has released a book charting the first 500 projects of international architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron. The fly-through index of projects from 1978 to 2019 offers a page-turning outtake of the studio’s evolution, scope and breadth.

Covering plenty of ground, the book’s simple presentation makes it all the more engaging. Each project is dedicated just one landscape image, a title and a number. Four projects occupy each double page spread – the rhythm is tangible.

Projects both realised and unrealised include the most recognisable hits – the VitraHaus, Prada Aoyama, Tate Modern, Beijing’s National Stadium, the Elbphilharmonie. There’s plenty of discovery, and rediscovery, from Studio Remy Zaugg in France, to the Napa Valley Dominius Winery or the Naturbad Riehen. Not to mention competition entries, research studies and website redesigns.

‘How exciting it is to stroll around the world, starting in Basel and ending in Harvard,’ write the publishers in their 2020 catalogue that features news, art and antics from Dino Simonett and Martina Baer. Simonett moved to Basel in 2016 with his family, and spent longer than necessary unpacking because each evening he was studying the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron (chronologically) found all over his new home city. This book is made as a ‘tribute to Herzog and de Meuron and to the city that became our new home,’ he writes in his Editor’s Note.

In the introduction, Michel Kessler, ETH Zurich-trained architect and Herzog & de Meuron employee 2012–13, unwraps the studio’s ‘quasi-archaeological tactics’ starting with the 1979 remodelling of the Marttplatz in Basel. Then, picks black nylon garments designed for Prada, to reveal the variation that has positioned Herzog & de Meuron as a ‘sensory hinge’ between the 20th and 21st centuries – ‘between the clear, cold forms of modernism and the intelligible, digital age.’

This limited edition of 2000 is a useful and beautiful addition to any shelf. While the 200-run Collector’s Edition is a unique piece of art – the rainbow cover has been silkscreen printed on linen and the book signed by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.

INFORMATION

Herzog & de Meuron 001 – 500, paperback edition, €68

simonettbaer.com

Like the many surrounding wineries, Pamela and Richard Kramlich’s new home in Napa Valley, California, also has a cellar. But rather than stone or brick walls encasing barrels of aging grape juice, their’s is an underworld designed by famed Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. The concrete cellar has been designed to house their renowned collection of time-based media art, which includes works by artists such as Nam June Paik, Matthew Barney, Joan Jonas and Marina Abramovic, among many others. Above this subterranean level are two further stories: a semi-private living area and an all-glass pavilion.

In the pavilion, it’s like ‘you’re living inside but you’re outside…you’re just caressed by the landscape', says Pamela in The Kramlich Residence and Collection, a monograph published this month by Hatje Cantz that chronicles the development of the architectural project.

Pamela and Richard first met Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 1997 over dinner at the home of two friends, who had commissioned the architects to construct the nearby Dominus Winery. The Kramlichs explained their desire to build a new home in which one could both live and exhibit artwork, and Herzog & de Meuron were struck by the creative possibilities. Conversations continued, concurrent to the architects’ work on what is now their most well-known project – the Tate Modern. Although the Tate Modern also began in 1997, it was finished in 2000; meanwhile, the Kramlich Residence and Collection, known as ‘Project 158’, was only completed in 2015. Over its nearly 20 year development, the structure evolved alongside technology and the way art is exhibited.

The first two designs were variations of rectangular courtyard floorplans, each with a freestanding cube to provide additional exhibition space. But the final building is one complete structure that merges art with daily life, with a central spiral staircase that intersects the glass pavilion above and the gallery level below.

Below ground, a cinema, replete with vintage Carlo Mollino seating, screens Christian Marclay’s Lids and Straws (2016). Visitors (scholars, curators and other invited guests) activate many of the media works with the touch of an iPad – something that was unthinkable in November 1997, when the first drawings were made. ‘The original project was "a dinosaur"’, Herzog recalls in the book. ‘It was designed anticipating the future, but the future needed to happen'.

Now that the future has apparently happened, the Kramlichs have a space where their collection will be installed in informal, rotating exhibitions that will, they suspect, push the boundaries of the way art can be experienced. Finding inspiration in Dan Graham’s use of bisected mirrored triangles, ‘Project 158’ fuses the idea of transparency with translucency – combining views of the natural world with reflected reproductions, and art with living. No matter of one’s position in the house, ‘the art', Herzog notes, ‘is always with you'. 

INFORMATION

For more information visit the Hatje Cantz website and the Herzog & de Meuron website

After a contentious mayoral race in October that saw the current mayor win by a slim margin, Vancouver faces growing pains as it grapples with being one of the world’s most liveable yet unaffordable cities. Its charms and natural landscapes attract international interest yet exile long time residents and creatives to its suburban margins. 

With Vancouverism once exported as an international model for sustainable city building, Canada’s third largest metropolis is in the midst of a housing crisis that threatens its very civic health. Yet at the same time, the city is seeing a slew of new public projects emerge, as well as some of the world's biggest names in architecture flocking in to build here.  

Poised between its relatively recent past, and its future as a growing global metropolis, the 133-year-old city boasts a key new cultural space; the Vancouver Art Gallery is part of the sea change. The current Edwardian former courthouse, bursting at the seams, will give way to a new 300,000 sq ft gallery designed by Herzog & de Meuron and slated for completion in 2023.

Vancouver based developer Westbank has attracted international starchitects like Kengo Kuma and BIG, to design mixed used residential towers, and Büro Ole Scheeren has unveiled plans for two ‘vertical village’ skyscrapers.

On the city’s edges, there is a flurry of activity at the Arthur Erickson designed Simon Fraser University – where Perkins and Will have designed a new Student Union Building. Meanwhile at UBC, a luminescent new aquatic centre by MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects is the latest jewel in the campus crown. In between these two campuses, the new Emily Carr University of Art and Design by Diamond Schmitt Architects lends a multidisciplinary industrial edge to the surrounding new Great Northern Way arts district.  

Patkau Architects who won a RIBA award in 2018 for their Audain Art Museum in Whistler, have triumphed again with the impressive Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, where Michael Green’s city hall references both mid century optimism and 21st century green technology.  

But projects by the city’s patron saint of modernism, the late Arthur Erickson – like his Robson Square urban plaza and his Museum of Anthropology – still hold their own. And now his 1980 Evergreen Building that narrowly escaped demolition over a decade ago will enjoy an extraordinary architectural homage by the likes of Shigeru Ban – an elegantly small footprint triangular glass and wood tower that practices true architectural symbiosis, extruding organically from its neighbour.

Original landscape architect and longtime Erickson collaborator, 95 year old Cornelia Oberlander has been commissioned to streamline terraced plantings, and her rooftop garden for Moshe Safdie’s Vancouver Public Library opened in September, offering a timely reminder of how Vancouver can stay true to its ‘green city', community minded ideal.

Vancouver Art Gallery by Herzog de Meuron
A generous public plaza area will extend the gallery’s footprint into the street. Image: Herzog & de Meuron

Emily Carr University of Art and Design by Diamond Schmitt Architects
An anchor for the surrounding Great Northern Way arts district, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design by Diamond Schmitt Architects combines high tech, multidisciplinary chic with an industrial edge. Photography: Tom Arban

Emily Carr University of Art and Design by Diamond Schmitt Architects
The project brings new life to a former no go zone, bordered by a railway but framed by gorgeous city views. Photography: Tom Arban

Oakridge by Gregory Henriquez
The transformation of Oakridge from suburban-feeling mid century shopping mall into brave new civic world is rather startling.

Oakridge by Gregory Henriquez
The new mixed-use community that will span 28-acres and feature 9 towers and a 9-acre park at its core, was master planned by design lead Gregory Henriquez, with interior design by WonderWall and Piero Lissoni.

1550 Alberni by Kengo Kuma
A curvilinear sculpted art piece, 1550 Alberni will also be a 43-storey tower with 188 homes by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. The building’s shimmering surface shape shifts and reflects the changing city by the sea. The ground floor will house Japanese restaurant Waketokuyama in its first location outside of Japan.

1500 West Georgia by Büro Ole Scheeren with Francl Architecture
Büro Ole Scheeren, working with local firm Francl Architecture, has unveiled plans for two ‘vertical village’ skyscrapers comprised of irregularly stacked glass boxes divided by greenery.

1500 West Georgia by Büro Ole Scheeren with Francl Archietcture
The LEED Platinum project opens up the inert shaft of the tower of glass to embrace and reflect the surrounding urban and natural landscapes.

SFU SUB by Perkins+Will 
Designing a new student union building at the apex of Arthur Erickson’s iconic 1965 Simon Fraser University is not a feat for the faint of heart. 

SFU SUB by Perkins+Will 
Happily, designs for the soon to be completed new SUB by Perkins and Will respect the bones of Erickson’s original design while creating a contemporary light filled space.

Terrace House by Shigeru Ban with Francl Architecture
Not only is Shigeru Ban’s new Terrace House, a 19-storey mixed use project, slated to be North America’s tallest hybrid timber structure when it completes in 2021, it’s also an extraordinary homage to the legacy of Arthur Erickson and his adjacent Evergreen Building. 

Terrace House by Shigeru Ban with Francl Architecture
Mimicking the Evergreen’s geometry and extracting its design DNA, there is a sense that Ban’s building is born from Erickson’s. 

Polygon Gallery by Patkau Architects 
The new art gallery in North Vancouver opens up to the south facing harbour and city view with an elegant rectangular eye, while its Eastern flank references the still active local industry with a striking sawtooth form. 

Polygon Gallery by Patkau Architects 
Light filled galleries frame the Vancouver skyline, while a large plaza extends to the seawall, welcoming all.

Public Library roof garden by Moshe Safdie Architects, DA architects and Cornelia Oberlander
Two decades after the project’s completion, the design team of Moshe Safdie Architects, DA architects and landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander reunited to fulfill the original design intent of a public roof garden atop Vancouver’s Public Library. Photography: Robert Stefanowicz

Public Library roof garden by Moshe Safdie Architects, DA architects and Cornelia Oberlander
A new theatre, exhibition hall and a quiet reading room make the upper floors a popular destination for library users. Photography: Robert Stefanowicz

Vancouver House by BIG
Designed by BIG in collaboration with local architect DIALOG, Vancouver House looms like an amorphous architectural creature sidled up against the Granville Street Bridge. 

Vancouver House by BIG
Expanding from a 560 sq m triangular footprint into a 1,300 sq m rectangular tower, the VH will be one of the city’s tallest new buildings at 156 m.

UBC Aquatic Centre by MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects
A new aquatics centre for the University of British Columbia - a highlight in a flurry of current campus projects - is surrounded by fritted glass and crowned with an angular white roof. Photography: Shai Gil

UBC Aquatic Centre by MJMA & Acton Ostry Architects
Looming like a giant oculus at the campus gateway, it’s a place to see and be seen, quite literally. Photography: Shai Gil

The Royal College of Art (RCA) has announced a campus refresh that will evolve the educational vision of the post-graduate university. Architectural updates include a new Herzog & de Meuron building and a revitalisation of the historic Kensington campus. These will contribute to the hastening academic pursuit of the RCA to cross-pollinate design disciplines with those of science.

Herzog & de Meuron’s building design for the Battersea campus – for which 70 per cent of philanthropic funding has now been achieved – will hold a vast, flexible hangar-style space at its heart, flanked by two adjoined buildings catering to studios, workshops, labs and research centre facilities.

After this project completes (2022 projected) attention will turn to the historic campus in Kensington. The Darwin Building, designed by British architects Sir Hugh Casson, H.T. Cadbury-Brown and Robert Goodden and opened in 1961, will undergo revitalization. Plans will dramatically update function, yet also look back to celebrate and reconnect with the radical founding values of the college

Founded in 1837, the RCA is a postgraduate university that describes itself as a ‘radical traditionalist in a fast-paced world.’ First founded as a response to the first Industrial revolution, now the school is reacting to the current digital and economic revolution. New programmes with a focus on nano and soft robotics, computer science and machine learning, materials science and the circular economy such as the already introduced Environmental Architecture and Digital Direction programmes that will be developed and expanded on further – all made possible by the new building and campus designs.

Notable architectural alumni include Sir Ridley Scott, Sir David Adjaye and Thomas Heatherwick, while the Sir Jony Ive takes up the position of chancellor. Ive describes the university as an environment of cross-pollination that ‘encourages an acceptance of the challenges associated with doing hard things, encouraging the curiosity, openness and care that are at the heart of innovation’.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the RCA website and the Herzog & de Meuron website

New York's Museum of Modern Art has just had a major injection of architectural mastery courtesy of a donation from Herzog & de Meuron. The Swiss firm has gifted a tranche of design drawings, photographs, models and other materials to the museum, bolstering MoMA's holding of archive material relating to the studio and its architecture collection in general.

Later this year a project to expand the design display space within MoMA will complete, and some of the 23 new works donated by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron's charitable foundation will go on public display.

In total, the museum now has an extensive physical record of nine key Herzog & de Meuron projects spanning the period 1988 to 2015, from the Domus Winery in Napa Valley, to the concrete complex at 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

The donated materials include original sketches, working models, presentation models, CAD sets, renders, movies and artworks, all charting the evolution and working practices of one of the most compelling studios at work today. The multi-award winning firm was set up in 1978 and has a long-standing connection with the US, completing a number of major cultural and residential projects across the country. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Museum of Modern Art website and the Herzog & de Meuron website

A police station, magistracy and prison are probably the last places on most people’s ‘must see’ cultural hotspots list, yet this week the former Police Headquarters compound in Hong Kong has been unveiled as a new, non-profit, cultural hub called Tai Kwun, meaning ‘Big Station’. The ambitious plan is unusual because centrally located sites are usually snapped up for high-rise commercial use, and this 300,000sq ft compound is only a few minutes’ walk from the city’s prime financial district.

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who are also responsible for designing Hong Kong’s M+ museum of visual culture (opening in 2020), worked with conservation architects Purcell to revitalise 16 historic buildings built around a prison yard and parade ground dating between 1864 and 1925. Three of the buildings are declared monuments and the whole site is steeped in history; Ho Chi Minh was imprisoned there in the 1930s and it was a Japanese army base during the Second World War. The site was decommissioned in 2006, but much of it has been retained intact, including the prison cells with their original numbers and locks.

The decade-long joint venture project is led by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in partnership with the Hong Kong Government. The designers have inserted two bold contemporary buildings in the complex; a gallery for contemporary art and a cube-shaped 200-seat auditorium for the performing arts, film screenings and events. Both are clad in monumental perforated aluminium bricks that stand out among the existing buildings’ handsome granite and brick facades.

The Tai Kwun Contemporary not-for-profit art space will host six to eight exhibitions a year, starting with a group show titled ‘Dismantling the Scaffold’ (opening 9 June) and an exhibition of Chinese medicine-inspired works by local artist Wing Po So.

‘We shift perspective from a European point of view to a Hong Kong view,’ says Tobias Berger, Tai Kwun’s head of arts. ‘It is the connection between heritage and contemporary that is important: the buildings are seamlessly connected and you see that also in our mentality.’ Elsewhere, an exhibition titled ‘100 Faces of Tai Kwun’ gives an intriguing glimpse into the history of the compound and its neighbourhood.

Finding one’s way through the various spaces is satisfyingly clear thanks to a new lane through the centre of the site linking the buildings. Restaurant offerings on site include the Café Claudel bistro, and a ‘Cha Chaan Teng’ neighbourhood-style teahouse by Tsui Wah. All eyes, however, are on the mid-June opening of local dining maven Yenn Wong’s Old Bailey, serving Jiangnan cuisine.

INFORMATION

For more information visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

The British designer Margaret Howell is the maker of beautiful but discreet clothes, with a strong sense of purpose and sensible proportions. This April, Howell will bring that understated aesthetic to London’s Tate Modern, as she becomes the latest guest curator of the Tate Edit shop, a bright and tidy retail space tucked to the right of the museum’s riverside entrance, and designed by Jasper Morrison in collaboration with architects Herzog & de Meuron.

The store, which opened in November 2016, is stocked with limited editions, objects for the home, and artists’ products, as selected by an in-house team and temporary editors, including Morrison and, most recently, Momoko Mizutani, of Dalston homewares boutique Momosan. It is a merchandising dream, offering picture-perfect retailing with a view of the Thames, and soon a showcase of Howell’s favourite things, from an Irish linen tea towel and a simple wire tea strainer, to an Anglepoise desk lamp and Robert Welch serving spoons.

‘I was asked, quite simply, to choose pieces I loved,’ says Howell of the brief, ‘and the selection ended up being a lot of what I sell in my own shops, not out of principle, but because those are quite personal items that I have a strong relationship with.’

At Howell’s spacious Wigmore Street store in London’s Marylebone, the clothing and accessories for which she is best known are sold alongside a revolving selection of vintage stoneware and expertly restored Ercol furniture, iterations of which Howell grew up with. Other domestic titbits – many of them brought over from Japan, where Howell, now 71, has a significant cult following and more than 100 retail outposts – further underscore her affection for fine materials and impeccable craftsmanship.

‘We like well-designed and good-quality things, but they’ve got to be useful, and they have to work. It’s like the clothes, really: I design clothes to wear for a purpose, rather than an outfit to be seen in just one evening. My clothes are meant to last. And all that applies to objects, too,’ says Howell.

Across categories and price-points, Howell’s Tate Edit – which also includes a few of her own designs (sunglasses, an apron, and silk scarves among them) – presents a snapshot of the appealing pragmatism that, alongside rigorous quality control, have come to define her eponymous lifestyle brand. In a noisy retail landscape, Howell’s edit trains our attention on the appeal of quiet, tactile objects, and the simple pleasures that can be found in taking a moment to examine, appreciate, and maybe even covet them.

‘I just don’t know how people can buy without seeing something. To make a purchase, whether it’s furniture or clothing or a teacup, I have to see it and feel it,’ says Howell. ‘It must be inherent to the time I was brought up in: one had to be quite careful, and look after things, mend them, and make them last. The few things I do choose to buy, I want to be able to keep them for a very long time.’

As originally featured in the April 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*229)

Items from Howell’s Tate Edit collection, photographed in her London Wigmore Street store. From left, sunglasses, £195 each, by Margaret Howell. Half zip wallet, £125; hinged coin wallet, £65, both by Margaret Howell. ‘Concentric’ chopping boards, from £35 each, by Asaf Tolkovsky. Stackable glasses, £24 for four, by Toyo-Sasaki Glass. ‘Concentric’ trays, from £20 each, or £130 for five, by Asaf Tolkovsky. Tea strainer, £45, by Kanaami-Tsuji. Butter dish, £65, by Noda Horo. Salad servers, £40, by Robert Welch. Tea towel in Irish linen, £12. Glass bowls, small, £42 each; large, £80, all by Fresco. Tablemat, £22, by Mourne Textiles. Stoneware beakers, from £44 each, by Keiko Hasegawa. Glass vases, £120 each, by Fresco. Table brush, £35; keyboard brushes, £20 each, all by Geoffrey Fisher

INFORMATION
Margaret Howell’s Tate Edit collection will be available in store and online from 27 April to September 2018. For more information, visit the Tate website and Margaret Howell’s website

ADDRESS

Tate Modern
Bankside
London
SE1 9TG 

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

There is no shortage of glamorous residential architecture in Miami – from the new-build wonders of the likes of One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid, to the rich art deco heritage, this is a city awash with luxury housing options. Now, a new addition makes its entrance in the scene, as today marks the official opening of Jade Signature, Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss practice Herzog & de Meuron’s latest local offering.

The architects are well-known for their critically acclaimed work in Miami, which includes high profile commission such as 1111 Lincoln Road, and the Peréz Art Museum – and this oceanfront property, which sits in the Sunny Isles Beach neighbourhood, was developed for husband-and-wife team Edgardo and Ana Cristina Defortuna of Fortune International Group. For Jade Signature, Herzog & de Meuron worked with celebrated Miami landscape architect Raymond Jungles and Parisian interior designer Pierre Yves-Rochon.  

Light and elegant, Jade Signature’s concrete, sinuous form clearly stands out among its neighbours for its bright white presence and shimmering glazing. Slabs clearly articulate different floors, while windows are recessed in a gesture that further enhances the building’s highly sculptural character. Comprising 192 residences serviced by a rich selection of amenities – such as swimming pool, private beach, spa, playrooms and a wine bar and lounge – the development also features state-of-the-art smart technology throughout.  

The design is not all about the aesthetics. The architects took extra care to ensure the building adheres to environmentally friendly principles, using the natural context in an eco-conscious manner. Natural ventilation is encouraged throughout, while a combination of carefully placed windows and a strategically orientated overall volume, means that the apartments can be lit but also cooled down naturally as much as possible.

‘Jade Signature is a tower on the beach. Like the great Miami hotels we have come to admire, it is a building rooted directly in the landscape and the city around it. Interior and exterior are seamlessly bound together’, say the architects. ‘The Jade Signature project is expressive of its residential program, its relationship to the beach and the historical context of the city around it. Through an arrangement of slabs and structural walls, solid elements and open terraces, the tower is a simple gesture that gains in depth and complexity as it is approached and experienced.’

INFORMATION

For more information visit the website of Herzog de Meuron

A new office building designed by Herzog & de Meuron is set to grace the shores of Lake Geneva in 2021. The Swiss architecture practice, known for its sensitive, material-led and site-specific approach, has been announced by global wealth and asset management company Lombard Odier as the designers of its new head office.

Competing against practices such as BIG, Dominique Perrault and OMA for the commission, Herzog & de Meuron impressed Lombard Odier with a ‘resolutely contemporary’ approach that was cutting-edge yet also addressed the building from the sky, land and lake, in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Located on a 27,400 sq m plot of land that borders Lake Geneva, the open and transparent form with elegantly cantilevering and curved floor slabs will allow employees to experience nature from within the building.

‘A stone-clad bunker would no longer be in keeping with the image of a contemporary bank. We have designed a transparent, elegant and measured building; as such, its architecture reflects the vision and values of Lombard Odier,’ says Pierre de Meuron.

Marking an important step forward for Lombard Odier – to which the concept of ‘one roof’ was a key part of the brief – the headquarters will house all 2,600 employees under one roof, as well as an 600-seat auditorium and a staff restaurant.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

Not many people can say that they have an Anish Kapoor in their hallway. But the residents of Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard will – as well as a view to the Atlantic Ocean from the middle of Tribeca. Life’s not fair, right? From the architecture, to the amenities, to the interiors, every detail of 56 Leonard has been designed by the visionary Swiss architecture practice.

The architects worked closely with Kapoor to create an artwork for the 18ft high lobby that will flow seamlessly through the building bridging art and architecture – it will be Kapoor’s first permanent artwork in New York, which will be installed in the second half of 2017.

An emphasis has been placed on bespoke features throughout the building and even the elevators have custom designed interiors. Which, if you have the privilege to ride, will take you up to the 145 residences, which have just launched to sale and already almost sold out. Each apartment has a unique floor plan and all feature cantilevering private outdoor spaces. The ten penthouses, eight of which are full floor homes, have private landings and beyond the threshold you’ll find 14ft window walls opening up views across Manhattan and beyond. Inside the apartments, bespoke kitchens with sleek, black granite islands and bathrooms featuring mirrored cabinets with coplanar doors have been custom made by Molteni.

Private amenities on the ninth and tenth floors set across 17,000 sq ft include a 75ft infinity pool with sundeck and hot tub overlooking the Hudson. As well as fitness studio, lounge, theatre, private dining salon, catering kitchen – to name a few of the perks that come with living in 56 Leonard.

At 60 storeys high (Tribeca’s tallest), the glass skyscraper is a top heavy tower of tumbling and irregularly sized cuboids, almost digital in their casual accumulation. If an architectural style could be labeled as ‘post-internet’ then Herzog & de Meuron are certainly riding that pixelated wave with 56 Leonard.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

Despite this, Canary Wharf was a place where people come to work and shop, not live and grow. But this is about to change. Thanks to the Canary Wharf Group, this already vibrant area is set to become a bona fide neighbourhood, with high streets, boutique arcades, cultural venues, abundant public art, over nine new acres of plazas and parks, and amenities such as a doctors’ surgery and a primary school. It will be, the Group explains, ‘a place to put down roots, raise a family and be part of a community. A place to call home.’

Heading this development is One Park Drive, designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. The firm’s first residential tower in London, One Park Drive is intended to be a standard bearer for domestic architecture across the city.

The project humanises the questions of material and aesthetic that mark Herzog & de Meuron’s finest works, including the totemic Tate Modern Switch House on London’s Bankside, New York’s 56 Leonard Street and the imposing Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. How, they ask, should we live in tall buildings? The answer? ‘As humanly as possible.’

It’s appropriate then that this cylindrical, 58-storey structure, located at the entrance to the dock, eschews overwrought styling in favour of holistic purpose. The tower has three distinct zones: the lower Loft; middle Cluster; and upper Bay. The Loft apartments, with high ceilings and wraparound terraces, are some of the largest in One Park Drive, affording a close engagement with the waterfront and surrounding green spaces. The Cluster apartments, with their geometric facades, comprise the heart of the building. Finally, the Bay apartments, in the upper reaches of the tower, feature double-height terraces set back into the building, and are designed to both maximise interior light and afford near-panoramic views across the capital.

Inside, the living spaces are imbued with a sense of calm and luxurious intimacy. Surfaces are tactile and finishes natural; an aesthetic complement to the distinct apartment zones. ‘We look for materials that are as breathtakingly beautiful as the cherry blossom in Japan or as condensed and compact as the rock formations of the Alps,’ explain the architects. The results are as refined as the philosophy that underpins them.

But One Park Drive is not an insular building. Spread across the ground and first floors, the communal areas are fully integrated and positively engage with the surroundings by way of floor-to-ceiling windows. The ground floor houses a reception, concierge, lounge, cinema and library, while a health club with gym, spa and serene 20m-pool is located on the first.

With the opening of Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line in late 2018 – roughly coinciding with the arrival of One Park Drive’s first residents – Canary Wharf will be one of the best connected, most desirable and secure neighbourhoods in London. ‘When we started Canary Wharf, we had a vision,’ says Sir George Iacobescu, chairman and CEO of Canary Wharf Group. ‘We wanted to create not just a collection of exceptional buildings, but a place.’ With this masterplan, they’ve done just that. These 128 acres will soon become a place to call home – a unique architectural achievement and the very best in city and waterside living.

Read more at www.canarywharf.com/residential

Playing a game of Jenga with studio apartments and four bedroom homes, Herzog & de Meuron brings modernist values to luxury residential living at One Park Drive in Canary Wharf, the practice’s first residential UK project.

Tessellating 483 residences across 58 storeys, the architects have created a cylindrically evolving object formed of balconies, terraces and bay windows. Not far from a Ballardian fantasy, the building has been engineered using three typologies of home – Loft, Bay and Cluster – layered in alternating stepped floor plans, which allow for balconies and large bay windows for each unit (though, the architects have been sure to protect from cross views).

High-ceilinged loft style apartments with spacious terraces form the base, while visually projecting from the central barrel, smaller apartments occupy the middle belt of the building, and above, larger two to three bedroom homes fill the volume, recessing back with their terraces cut back from the form.

Geometrically balanced yet complex in its arrangement, the form references the accumulating brickwork lattice of Herzog & de Meuron’s last London project, the deliciously angular Switch House, while the layered units and accumulating insets riff off some of London’s most iconic housing estates such as the Barbican, Alexandra Road and the Brunswick.

With sales launching in May 2017, One Park Drive is set to complete in 2018, when the high-end housing project will be fed with its refined residents as part of the first phase of Canary Wharf’s inhabitation programme – 3,300 new homes will be built in the area, a quarter of which will be affordable, with capacity for building 400 more homes.

An architectural experiment as well as a social one, Canary Wharf has enlisted a stellar list of architects to build an identity for the area which is one of the Dockland’s last remaining undeveloped expanses. Along with Herzog & de Meron, Stanton Williams Architects, Allies and Morrison, Grid Architects, KPF, Darling Associates, Patel Taylor and Wirtz International are contributing to the first phase of the urban transformation.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

Hamburg's industrial waterfront has experienced extraordinary changes over the last century and a half, and no building better represents this than Herzog & de Meuron’s new Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which opened this week.

The multi-use structure is built on the site of the Kaiserspeicher, an 1875 neo-gothic warehouse that stood for years as the city’s most famous landmark. Almost completely destroyed in the Second World War, it was re-imagined in 1966 as the red brick Kaispeicher A, storing cocoa, tea and tobacco. Now the centrepiece of the HafenCity district, one of Europe’s most ambitious development areas, the building has been reborn for the third time as a facility containing not just three concert halls, but a hotel, apartments and public plaza.

Kaispecher A itself now contains a car park, spa facilities, restaurants, conference rooms and a 170-seat auditorium. Above that, hovering above a 4,000 sq m plaza with views around the city through vault-shaped openings, is the addition, accessible via an arched, 82m-long escalator.

The Elbphilharmonie shimmers as Hamburg’s contemporary symbol, its crystalline facade consisting of 1,100 mirrored glass panes, marked with grey reflective dots. The panes’ curvatures shift depending on their location, ranging from horseshoe-shaped recesses to fish gill-like hatches. Its tent-like roof, fitted with sparkling sequins, is made up of eight concave sections, curving with peaks and valleys like a mountain range. This profile is meant, says Herzog & de Meuron, to contrast with the horizontality of Hamburg, 'as an expression of reaching out into new territory'.

Inside the 2,100-seat Grand Hall, accessible via lofty, layered foyers cut into the building’s heart, is the complex’s centerpiece. Consisting of a series of steeply-inclined tiers, radiating on all sides from the central orchestra like sections of a hilltop vineyard, it is clad with a system called the 'White Skin', consisting of 10,000 carefully milled gypsum fibre panels made up of plaster and recycled paper. Other facilities in the new hall include a 550-seat recital hall, a 250-room hotel, and 45 private apartments.

Around it, the HafenCity continues to come to life, with renovations progressing in the Elbphilharmonie’s historic warehouse district along with futuristic new museums, offices and housing. Times have certainly changed, but the Elbphilharmonie has managed to make itself the centre of things once again. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website.

As well as garnering numerous design award nominations, young Hamburg-based design firm Studio Besau-Marguerre is fasy becoming a frequent collaborator with companies such as e15 and Petite Friture. The studio was overwhelmed when architect Daniel Schöning asked them to work with him on the furnishing concept for the Elbphilharmonie.

Furnishing a building by Swiss stalwarts Herzog & de Meuron was their dream job, which also gave them the chance to leave their own footprint within Hamburg’s newest landmark building.

For their sensitive concept, Schöning, Eva Marguerre and Marcel Besau were conscious of choosing furniture that would take a back seat to the voluminous space. White and pale-coloured pieces allow for the spectacular interiors to take centre stage and the unintrusive materials help visitors enjoy the richness of music. Supporting the notion of creating something new on a traditional base, the trio chose recent furniture designs of mostly young (or at least still active) designers such as Kraud, Sylvain Willenz, Eric Degenhardt, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Stefan Diez, KaschKasch, Philipp Mainzer and Farah Ebrahimi. 

Although the furnishing of the Elbphilharmonie was a big task in itself, the team decided it wouldn't be complete until they created an elegant furniture series especially for the building, designed to meet all the demands of a public space. For the foyers of the two concert halls, they designed a high table, a bench and a side table, which impress in their careful consideration of material and usability. For the Sky Lounge, they devised family of glass tables, which reflect the powerful architecture of the building and assimilate in the ambitious room.

The heart of the Elbphilharmonie will begin to pulse next month – the ladies will discuss the latest interpretation of Beethoven's Ninth with a glass of champagne, placed on an elegant, slim marble-topped high table, while tucking their Jil Sander bags safely away. Meanwhile, gentlemen will sit on benches enjoying Hamburg’s skyline across the river Elbe, in the centre of the Hafencity, Europe's largest inner-city urban development project.

If you like the furniture by the Hamburg design trio as much as we do, the series will be produced by a renowned manufacturer from spring 2017.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Studio Besau-Marguerre website and the WRS Architekten & Stadtplaner website

Herzog & de Meuron have unwrapped the packaging on the new Feltrinelli Porta Volta building in Milan, the firm's very first public structure in Italy. Around the corner from Corso Como and a short walk from the city’s Porta Nuova district, the new twin-building structure has been erected on the site of a former garden nursery, which was previously encircled by a less than desirable mix of cracked sidewalks, post-World War II rubble and run-down car washes.

The steel and glass building, whose steeply pitched roof cuts a jagged, shark tooth-like line against the skyline, will now house shops and restaurants on the ground floor and will be further bolstered by 11,000 sq m of public park tbat will bring an oasis of green grass and public benches to the city – a rarity in Milan. 'It holds an important strategic potential for creating a positive impact on the entire surrounding area,' remarked Jacques Herzog. '[The project] has an important urban dimension, strengthening and reinforcing the city of Milan.'

The secret weapon aiding this endeavor is COIMA, a real estate investment company whose main mission is urban landscape refurbishment. COIMA specialises in transforming city wastelands into flourishing bastions of gleaming skyscrapers and lush public lawns, as has been demonstrated in its mighty overhaul of Milan’s Porta Nuova district. The project saw 22 new skyscrapers – all LEED Gold-certified buildings – erected over a brisk (for Italy, at least) five year period.

The Feltrinelli Porta Volta building has a similar ethos in that a crumbling, misused slice of the city has now found a new lease of life, while also reflecting and respecting its neighborhood environs. Inspired by the cascina buildings of traditional rural architecture in Lombardy, the building is only five stories high, but its first two floors boast 7m-high ceilings that allow for fantastic light and its modest size fits in with its palazzo-lined street. One of its buildings will house the headquarters of the Feltrinelli Foundation, while the second will serve as Microsoft’s new Italian hub.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

When Herzog and de Meuron’s highly anticipated Switch House extension opened at the Tate Modern in June this year, the cavernous Turbine Hall that was once a ‘dead end’ within the museum became its heart; a space that leads visitors across from the original riverside building to the new galleries.

It was a change of circulation that was closely observed by the Hall’s latest resident, French artist Philippe Parreno, whose installation Anywhen opens today as the second in a new series of annual site-specific Turbine Hall commissions sponsored by Hyundai.

A master of the immersive, Parreno is the perfect candidate to take on the halls’ cavernous space – he was famously the first artist to take on all 22,000 sq m at the Palais de Tokyo in 2013 and just last year he filled New York’s gargantuan Park Avenue Armory with his show, 'H {N)Y P N(Y} OSIS’.

‘There has never been a project that has used the Turbine Hall in this way,’ says Tate assistant curator Vassilis Oikonomopoulos of Parreno’s typically immersive installation, ‘not topologically, not technically or even architecturally.’

Keen to extract elements of the Hall and integrate them into his ‘living’ exhibition, Parreno became the first ever artist with a Turbine commission to go and talk to the architects, visiting Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron at their offices in Basel in order to better understand the design of the space.

The result is an exhibition that sees Parreno ‘playing’ the Hall like an instrument, so that visitors approaching from all entrances can't help but be drawn into the spectacle. As music and sound designed by Nicolas Becker with Cengiz Hartlap blares out, the Turbine’s light boxes flash in time, a temporary cinema space gracefully drops down from the ceiling and a shoal of inflatable fish float serenely past. A ghost-like white marquee – a familiar accoutrement from the Parreno toolbox – is installed on the Turbine Hall’s Level 1 bridge alongside a moving spotlight (made in collaboration with Liam Gillick) that snakes through the hall on a rail casting beautiful shadows as it goes. Elsewhere, the outside is brought inside in the form of daylight from the Hall’s towering windows as well as live sounds that have been recorded on microphones placed in and around the building.

The suspended cinema space, that consists of one vast screen, a grid of speakers and a series of vertical and horizontal acoustic panels engineered by Kvadrat, glides up and down in various configurations, occasionally stopping to show one of two films including a new hypnotic work that features underwater footage of a brilliant bioluminescent cuttlefish as well as a performance by ventriloquist Nina Conti.

Here, beneath the suspended cinema, visitors are encouraged to stop and sit on the specially-installed carpet; to take a moment to get lost in the experience, creating what the artist calls a ‘temporary community’. ‘The fact that it’s a free exhibition changes the perspective,’ says Oikonomopoulos. ‘The opportunities are much bigger for creating a more diverse community. It won’t just be your typical museum visitors here; unexpected types of people will come in that have no idea about Philippe or his work.’

Another defining feature of Anywhen is that, unlike previous Parreno exhibitions, there will be no loop of planned sequences. Instead its form will be more organic, constantly changing throughout the day and even over the course of its six-month lifespan so that every visitor has a new experience. This is, in part, due to a mysterious bioreactor that is installed at the back of the hall.

Conceived and engineered by scientists Jean-Baptiste Boulé and Nicolas Desprat, the bioreactor was first introduced by Parreno as part of ‘IF THIS THEN ELSE’, an exhibition held earlier this year at the Gladstone Gallery. Connected to sensors on the roof and within the hall, the laboratory set-up, which can be viewed through a glass screen, is fed information about changes in light and humidity. In response to the data, the microorganisms within the bioreactor create patterns that will then trigger sequences of movement within the space.

As a whole, the effect is beguiling; like being inside a disorientating collage made up of layers of natural and artificial sound and light that eradicate any sense of perspective or scale. ‘We had no idea how poetic it would be and how many surprises we would have,’ says Oikonomopoulos of the six-week installation process. ‘When there are so many elements and they finally come together the combination of them often left us speechless.’

INFORMATION

'Hyundai Commission: Philippe Parreno', supported by Kvadrat, is on view until 2 April 2017. For more information, visit the Tate Modern's website.

ADDRESS

Tate Modern
Bankside
London, SE1 9TG

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Although the Herzog & de Meuron-designed M+ visual arts museum is still three years from completion, that hasn’t stopped its curatorial team from delivering a series of innovative exhibitions across the city. This week, however, marks the first permanent venue for the institution, launching alongside its inaugural exhibition; a new solo commission entitled ‘Nothing’ by the Hong Kong-based artist Tsang Kin-wah.

Co-curated by M+ deputy director and chief curator Doryun Chong and the lead curator of learning and interpretation, Stella Fong, the small-scale exhibition is a ‘return’ response to Tang’s immersive video installation at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, an exploration of the significance of human life while noting the futility of such efforts.

‘Building a museum of the scale and ambition of M+ isn't something you can pull together overnight, so the M+ Pavilion is an exciting step for us programmatically in terms of trying and testing things out – a foothold on the way to the final destination,’ says M+ design and architecture curator Aric Chen.

The site-specific exhibition makes the most of the new low slung two-storey pavilion designed by a trio of young Hong Kong architects: VPANG Architects Ltd, JET Architecture, and Lisa Cheung. The building spans around 878 sq m, including a 310 sq m main gallery space and a dramatic elevated outdoor deck that frames views over Victoria Harbour. According to VPANG Architects’ managing director Vincent Pang, the platform also creates a sense of floating above the surrounding landscape, a metaphor about distancing oneself from busy city life to appreciate art in a quieter space.

Although a striking futuristic form, the pavilion’s mirrored steel façade ‘elegantly dissolves into its park setting’, says Chen. While inside, a minimalist blend of polished concrete floors and pure white walls offers a flexible backdrop to accommodate a wide range of small-scale exhibitions and performances.

INFORMATION

For more information on the M+ Pavilion visit the website

Last month saw the opening of the Herzog & de Meuron-designed Schaudepot – a new residential-style hub on Vitra’s German campus. Laid out like a timeline of design history, the permanent collections in the gallery cherish the products and people that have defined the industry to this day. Three times a year however, the gallery's curators take it upon themselves to shine the spotlight on a particular movement, designer or topic for a couple of months. For their first showing they have dived straight into a hugely divisive and consistently charming movement: 'Radical Design'.

The show explores the prominently Italian avant-garde movement and a plethora of cult classics that marked a political, economical and social change in design history. From the infamous pioneers Gaetano Pesce, Alessandro Mendini and Superstudio arrive a recognisable and innovative spread of their experimental concepts, all centrally located in the space.

'Radical Design' has been curated by Heng Zhi, who sought to focus on what the movement meant to society; in addition to its definitively pop-coloured, plastic-covered shapes, such as Mendini’s art and design straddling Lassù and Superstudio’s utopian Supersurface.

With their distinctive appearance, the bold shapes, colours and materials of the works are inimitable and immediately recognisable. ‘Thanks to the new materials and technologies available to the industrial designers,’ Zhi explains, ‘pieces such as the Cactus [by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, for Gufram] and I Sassi [by Piero Gilardi] made bringing elements of nature into the living space possible.’

'Another point that is important to me is the connection between this historical movement and our society today,' Zhi concludes. Running until November, the five pieces are accompanied by interviews with leading design radicals and the brands who keep the movement alive today.

The show explores a plethora of cult classics that marked a political, economical and social change in design history, from infamous pioneers like Gaetano Pesce, Alessandro Mendini and Superstudio. Pictured: ’UP 5&6, La Mamma, Donna’, by Gaetano Pesce, 1969.

‘Thanks to the new materials and technologies available to the industrial designers,’ Zhi explains, ‘pieces such as the Cactus [by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, for Gufram] and I Sassi [by Piero Gilardi] made bringing elements of nature into the living space possible.’ Pictured left: Lassù by Alessandro Mendini, 1974. Courtesy: Studio Mendini. Right: Cactus by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, 1971

INFORMATION
’Radical Design’ is on view until 17 November. For more information, visit the Vitra Design Museum’s website

ADDRESS

Vitra Design Museum
Charles-Eames-Str. 2
D-79576 Weil am Rhein

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Tate Modern opens its much anticipated Herzog & de Meuron extension, called Switch House, this weekend. We advise that you exit through the gift shop, captured on film here

There was a buzz around Bankside this morning as Tate Modern's Herzog & de Meuron extension opened its doors to press, en masse. At the top of the grandiose, central concrete staircase, we find the new Tate store, double height and stretching to an impressive 500 sq m. George Gottl of the Netherlands-based consumer experience agency UXUS walked Wallpaper* around.

'We've thought about every detail,' he explains. 'From the women's accessory displays, to the bespoke bookshelves to the t-shirt mannequins.' With such a broad range of items in stock, creating a fluid and unifying shop floor was essential. 'Every unit you see here is on wheels,' Gottl adds, pushing a towering display cabinet, attached to an exposed, industrial runner. 'So, as the exhibitions and needs of the museum change, the store can be continually adjusted to fit. I think of it like a marketplace, with stalls that can be completely dismantled and reconfigured, depending on the product they're selling.'

Even the lighting is 'permanently temporary' – it moves with the shelves. Discreet LED strips are embedded into the framework of the modular units, shining a spotlight on each item. 'When the strip lights are switched off, it's amazing how different the space looks,' Gottl notes. 'But when they're on, the store feels more like an extension of the gallery space, giving each object an even more premium feel – so the customer might be pleasantly surprised by the price tag.'

The store stocks similar items to the existing River shop (postcards, mugs, art supplies) but there is a heightened focus on limited edition art books and prints, which occupy a library-sized shelving unit across the back wall.

Splashes of colour come courtesy of the dedicated children's area, which benefits from padded, child-sized cubbyholes carved directly into the bookshelf – perfect resting places for kids, after a long tour of the now gargantuan museum. Elsewhere, things feel rather more grown-up, with powder-coated steel fixings, Tate-typical concrete floors and accents of darkened wood.

The excitement of the opening day is infectious, and Gottl's passion for the project is clear. 'Working closely with Tate Modern's enterprise team, we realised the importance of the store in generating income for the not-for-profit gallery,' he concludes. 'We have always admired Tate for its visionary approach – it has been an enormous honour to be part of the team that is making that vision a reality.'

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Tate Modern website

Photography courtesy UXUS and Tate

ADDRESS

Bankside, London SE1 9TG

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

On the bank of the River Thames, a steel-structured power house draws millions of visitors from across the globe every year. Its brick façade, towering chimney and imposing industrial form instantly mark it out as the Tate Modern, the world’s most popular platform for modern and contemporary art.

The gallery is housed in the former Bankside Power Station, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott between 1947 and 1963 before being decommissioned in 1981. The building lay dormant for over a decade until Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were selected to convert it into a national museum of art. Since Tate Modern’s official launch in 2000, the building has played a key role in transforming the once-deserted Bankside area into a bustling hub. And now Herzog and de Meuron are leading Tate Modern into a new era with a large-scale extension, set to open this month.

Herzog and de Meuron are renowned worldwide for their long list of architectural accomplishments; adept at harnessing a site’s existing character, their designs demonstrate a highly articulated use of materials with frequently complex, consistently intriguing explorations of space and shape. Standouts include the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, with the Tate Modern widely recognised as one of their most high-profile works. ‘It’s amazing how the Tate has grown – it’s a totally different institution now,’ says Herzog. ‘It has transformed Bankside, making it a city in itself.’

Five million people now annually flock to a museum designed to accommodate just two, while the Tate Modern’s collection has expanded by over 50 per cent since its 2000 launch. Unsurprisingly, this led to an urgent need for space. The new development, called the Switch House, has been designed to help visitors engage better with art, providing additional areas for learning, discussion and new media, as well as the collections themselves. It also marks the latest phase in Tate Modern’s ongoing evolution, which started with the completion of The Tanks in 2012 (this underground space, dedicated to live art and performance, briefly opened to the public before closing to reopen together with the Switch House this June). Located on the museum’s south side, the new Switch House rises from Level 0. ‘Adding a building to an existing structure is always a challenge for an architect – especially when it is a successful museum building designed by the same architect,’ muses Herzog. 

De Meuron factors in the issue of building a museum for the 21st century: ‘It should not be a flashy piece of architecture – it is not more important than the art itself.’ Clad in brick, this ten-storey building towers over the original gallery, effectively doubling the exhibition space. Its angular design creates an extraordinary form reminiscent of a pyramid. ‘It took us a while before we understood that brick was the right material,’ says Herzog. ‘Brick is archaic and physical; it speaks to you. The existing and new parts become one thing, not a collection of competing objects.’ De Meuron agrees: ‘It has its own identity and power.’

The façade of the Switch House references Gilbert Scott’s original brickwork, but actually evolves to become a kind of cutting-edge veil, blurring the boundaries between exterior and interior space. ‘The lattice lends the building an almost textile feel while maintaining an industrial look,’ explains Herzog. Other new features include open urban spaces and dedicated areas for learning and socialising. Perhaps most spectacular of all is the Switch House’s tenth-floor terrace, giving visitors a 360-degree view of London and perfectly framing the dome of St Paul’s.

Inside, raw concrete creates drama with folded forms. The cavernous Turbine Hall becomes the heart of the gallery, creating a kind of symmetry between the old and new buildings, a unity that is accentuated by the addition of a bridge that connects the two spaces. ‘The new building has a more organic, fluid spatial organisation, whereas the existing part is more linear in its build-up,’ says Herzog. ‘Together they make for a more complete experience for visitors to discover art – but also for curators to display art in different ways’.

And what of the art? The extension adds approximately 21,000 sq m of display space, which will showcase more than 250 artists from 50 different countries. The museum’s permanent collection will be rehung, as new acquisitions are showcased from Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East – works by Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse and Agnes Martin will join the likes of Sheela Gowda and Meschac Gaba for the first time. Additionally, a floor in the Switch House will house the Tate Exchange, a new platform for external organisations to engage with the gallery about global issues. German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans was on-site throughout the development, capturing each stage in a series of 176 shots. 

A Tate Artist Trustee from 2009–2014, and scheduled for a major retrospective in 2017, Tillmans feels this is a project close to his heart. ‘It is an incredibly intricate design; I was in awe of the task and the people who made it happen,’ he says. Turning his lens on building paraphernalia like scaffolding, walkie-talkies and sacks of cement, Tillmans manipulated his shots on an old photocopier that produces a single colour image after scanning a picture four times, ‘distorting and shifting the colours so that each one is a unique work’. These striking shots create a unique perspective, elevating the complexity of the construction into a ‘beautiful spectacle’ using layers of abstraction. 

Tate Modern has described the new gallery extension as ‘the most important cultural building to open in the UK for almost two decades’. Is it possible that it could elevate the museum from popular art attraction to vital new London icon? ‘Does it become an important ingredient for an area to grow? That’s the noblest aspect of architecture,’ Herzog fires back. ‘The expansion will make the whole building more interesting, with more options for art lovers as well as for those who want to enjoy the institution’s special atmosphere. 

'If it works, then yes, it can become an icon in a generation or two.’ After a pause, de Meuron adds: ‘It is a society that makes a building interesting through time.’

As originally featured in the July 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*208)

Since Tate Modern’s official launch in 2000, the building has played a key role in transforming the once-deserted Bankside area into a bustling hub. Now, Herzog and de Meuron are leading Tate Modern into a new era with a large-scale extension, the construction of which was captured on a time lapse film from Wallpaper* HQ. Photography: Wolfgang Tillmans. Videography: Lobster Pictures

INFORMATION

Tate Modern’s Switch House opens to the public on 17 June. For more information, visit Tate Modern’s website

ADDRESS

Tate Modern
Bankside
London, SE1 9TG

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

With the weight of history firmly on its shoulders, Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron is in the midst of constructing one of Israel’s most valuable cultural institutions – its National Library.

The cornerstone for the library’s new permanent home was laid in Jerusalem this April, signalling the start of a four-year construction process in which Herzog & de Meuron aims to unite a number of distinct elements central to the ancient city and the changing state of the modern library.

The new structure will cover 34,000 sq m in West Jerusalem’s National District, amid the nation’s most important civic and cultural institutions, including the Israel Museum and the Knesset. While the city’s architectural heritage conjures images of the narrow, stone-walled streets and souks of the Old City, its crosstown location is defined by contrasting modernity, with plenty of room for the library’s central structural element: a sweeping, singular curve of Jerusalem limestone that forms its upper volume.

Unsurprisingly, books will take centre stage here – a central skylight continues downward through the stone upper levels of the library, creating an illuminated, central void where each curve is lined with books.

Collaborating with Israeli architectural and planning firm Mann Shinar, Herzog & de Meuron has also considered the Library’s mission to evolve in the digital age, marrying the physical collection with the need for creative, interdisciplinary, and often virtual approaches. Five glass vitrines make up the bottom two floors, anchoring the library with its physical collection, rendering the inner-workings of the space visible to passers-by. The stone mass, which sits at the entry level, will also host an exhibition programme, café, bookstore, auditorium and youth centre, with free-flowing access to the central reading room.

'The diversity of functions and the connection to the city ensure that the library will remain a strong and vibrant institution in the future,' Herzog & de Meuron says. 

INFORMATION

For more information, visit Herzog & de Meuron's website

Imagery courtesy Herzog & de Meuron

Vitra’s sprawling campus in Weil am Rhein is home to not only the Swiss furniture giant’s head office and design museum, but also boasts an impressive roster of iconic structures. Buildings have famously been provided by some of architecture's greats, such as Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando and Zaha Hadid to name but a few. The newest addition to this architectural hotspot is the Schaudepot by Herzog & de Meuron – their second contribution to the campus, and the new home of Vitra’s permanent collection.

Consisting of 7,000 pieces of furniture, the Vitra collection is a vast assemblage of works spanning generations, such as modernism by Le Corbusier, objects from the Pop era, Bentwood furniture, pieces by Charles and Ray Eames and even a series of contemporary additions created through the medium of 3d printing. A careful selection of more than 400 key pieces will furnish the Schaudepot space, accompanied by temporary exhibits, the first of which will be titled 'Radical Design, Movement Of The 1960s'. The adjacent main museum building, designed by Frank Gehry, will continue to exhibit large scale exhibitions, with the Vitra Design Museum Gallery showing smaller experimental projects.

Herzog & de Meuron's previous contribution to the campus was the VitraHaus, a building hosting a furniture showroom and designed to mimic the local housing vernacular, made from a series of stacked gabled blocks. The Schaudepot is also loosely led by the visual style of a residential property, similar in aesthetics to a large home, featuring red brick walls and the typical pitched roof.

Opening its doors on 3 June, once in operation the Schaudepot will be one of the world’s largest research and exhibition facilities in modern furniture design. The location will also provide its visitors with a shop and cafe to rest and reflect after browsing the collection.

INFORMATION

For more information on the Schaudepot, visit Vitra Campus’ website or the Herzog & de Meuron website

ADDRESS

Charles-Eames-Straße 2
79576 Weil am Rhein
Germany

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

We’ve been following the developments at the Tate Modern’s ongoing extension keenly – and not least because our London HQ conveniently overlooks the site. This is famously one of the world’s most visited galleries of contemporary and modern art, and a prime London cultural destination since the former Bankside Power Station’s transformation by Swiss duo Herzog & de Meuron opened its doors at the turn of the millennium.

Now, 16 years later, Herzog & de Meuron have returned to the site, adding a much-needed extension to the original brick structure built by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott prior to his death in 1960. Design development in the new wing began in 2009 and, come June this year, the building will throw open its doors to the public for the first time since the sneak peak offered by the brief reveal of the Tate tank galleries back in 2012.

This move will allow the Tate to display much more of its growing collection. Four floors of the new wing will be dedicated to exhibitions from the permanent collection, while, for the moment at least, temporary shows will remain in their original spaces.

The Tanks will also reopen and, spanning ten floors above them, the new extension will include a restaurant and bar, office space, the aforementioned galleries, a members room, and an accessible panoramic viewing level at the very top.

The fifth floor will play host to Tate’s latest special project – the Tate Exchange. This innovative space will be dedicated to ’exploring wider social issues through art’, explains the art institution. The Tate describes the Exchange as a ’modern experiment’, which will provide space for interactive events and dialogue between artists, associates and the public.

The Tate Modern extension will launch on 17 June with a special weekend program of music, film, tours, workshops and events throughout the building.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website

On first glance, the shimmering spaceship-like facade of Herzog & de Meuron's newly unveiled Blavatnik School of Government building may look a little alien in its historic limestone surroundings on Oxford's Walton Street, but on closer inspection, some subtle nods to the city's historic architecture become evident.

Built on the site of Oxford's former Radcliffe Infirmiry, the new glass-clad building sits opposite the neoclassical columns of Oxford University Press and next door to the time worn Ionic portico of Freud's – a cafe bar housed in a former church.

'A big program with a relatively small footprint' led to the creation of this eight-level monument that totals 105,486 sq ft and can host up to 550 students, faculty staff and guests. A rectangular lower ground floor is topped with oval, horseshoe and various disc-shaped levels, stacked up unevenly to create balconies and internal courtyards.

From the street, only three floors are visible, with the others slung back from view- a tactic that the architects say was used in order to break down the scale and respect the proportions of the surrounding architecture. 'It's very difficult to behave well next to these historic buildings without losing your own identity,' explains Jacques Herzog. 'Using the different forms is a way of responding to the historic buildings without copying or mimicking them.' Other subtle references include the unexpected traditional rounded stone lintils that line each glazed level or the width of the glass panels which match those of Oxford's Bodleian library.

Once inside, the school's jutting cantilevered layers are united by one vast central atrium. This forum-like space is circled by a swooping spiral staircase that stretches from the lower ground floor's oak-lined lecture theatre right up to a common room with a central skylight on the eighth floor. Odd-shaped offices, study spaces, common rooms, reading rooms and a cafe line the perimeter of each level, looking into the central atrium from one side and out to panoramic views on the other. 

The forum-style design, inspired by parliament and government buildings as well as courtyards and the social ritual of sitting around a fire, is a representation of the school's values and a celebration of 'coming together,' says the School's Dean, Professor Ngaire Woods. 'The most important part of the brief was to build us a building that would draw us together in a heart,' she says. 'These sight lines work beautifully to connect people and remind people who else is in the school at any one time.'

INFORMATION

For more information visit the Herzog de Meuron website

Photography: Iwan Baan