Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron both studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) from 1970 to 1975 with Aldo Rossi and Dolf Schnebli. They received their degrees in architecture in 1975 and established their own practice in Basel in 1978, which became Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG in 1997. The partnership has grown over the years and today the office is led by the Founding Partners alongside Senior Partners Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. A team of 340 collaborators is working on over 35 projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are visiting professors at Harvard University, USA (1989 and since 1994), and professors at ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, ETHZ (since 1999).
Herzog & de Meuron are known for designs that are at once highly inventive and sensitive to the site, geography, and culture of the region for which the building is planned. The practice has been awarded numerous prizes including The Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2001.
Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama Epicenter in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); CaixaForum Madrid, Spain (2008); the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Perhaps the firm’s highest profile museum project to date is the conversion of the Bankside power plant to Tate Modern in London, UK (2000). The new development for completion of the Tate Modern Project is scheduled for 2012. Current projects include Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Germany (projected completion 2013); the new Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, USA (projected completion 2012); and the design of the new Sao Paulo Cultural Complex – Dance Theater, which will consolidate the largest cultural district in Brazil (projected completion 2016).
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