Herzog & de Meuron, setting ground for innovation

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron founded Herzog & de Meuron Architekten, BSA/SIA/ETH (HdeM) in 1978. A Swiss architecture firm, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland known by their commitment of articulation through materiality.

Their formal gestures have progressed from the purist simplicity of rectangular forms to more complex and dynamic geometries. The architects often cite Joseph Beuys as an artistic inspiration and collaborate with different artists on each architectural project. Their success can be attributed to their skills in revealing unfamiliar or unknown relationships by utilizing innovative materials.

Beijing National Stadium, colloquially as the Bird's Nest, designed for 

use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, China

In 2001, Herzog & de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest of honours in architecture. Architecture critic and Pritzker juror Ada Louise Huxtable summarized HdeM's approach concisely: "They refine the traditions of modernism to elemental simplicity, while transforming materials and surfaces through the exploration of new treatments and techniques."

CaixaForum Madrid is a post-modern art gallery in the centre of Madrid, Spain. 

Which combined an old unused industrial building with rusted steel.

An amazing structural challenge, the 56 Leonard in NY, watch the animation at http://www.youtube.com/watch? Read more about the project at http://www.dezeen.com/2008/09/14/56-leonard-street-by-herzog-de-meuron/ Visit the building website at http://www.56leonardtribeca.com/

56 Leonard Street, NY.

Browse some other interesting projects as 40 Bond Street in NY http://www.triplemint.com/triplemint/2006/02/40_bond_in_deta.html , the Tate Modern in London http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/, GSAPP animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9KE2DOzlSE&feature=related and the Young Museum of San Francisco http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwXxpB69VPs&feature=related

Laban in Deptford, british college and centre for contemporary dance (2003)

The M.H. de Young Museum is a fine arts museum located 

in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

They designed a Prada store in the fashionable Aoyama district of Tokyo in 2003. Read more about it at http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/pradatokyo/index.htm You may also watch a model animation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xGw1jrUPq0&feature=related and live the whole experience at http://vimeo.com/1449787

And if you wonder what is going on in Lincoln Road and Alton (South Beach, Miami), well it is 11 11, the new multi-space designed by the firm. Visit the website at http://www.1111lincolnroad.com/ and watch the transformation of an iconic corner.

Watch the animation video and the construction progress