The Museum of Modern Art announced a major donation of material representing nine innovative built and unbuilt projects developed and realized between 1994 and 2018 by Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron.

The works have been given to the Museum by the Jacques Herzog und Pierre de Meuron Kabinett, Basel, a charitable foundation established by the architects in 2015. The 23 physical objects and accompanying digital assets—sketches, study models, presentation models, and architectural fragments, as well as digital drawing sets, photographs, and videos—were carefully selected in close collaboration with the architects to demonstrate not only the final design output, but also the design process behind each project. These works join four Herzog & de Meuron architectural projects from 1988 to 1997 and one design object from 2002 already in the Museum’s collection.
The nine projects entering MoMA’s collection demonstrate the breadth and depth of Herzog & de Meuron’s contributions to contemporary architecture. As with most of their work, some of these projects have challenged conventions of architectural materiality (Dominus Winery, Yountville, Napa Valley, California, 1995–98), structure (1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, Florida, 2005–10) and typology (Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany, 2001–16; 56 Leonard Street, New York, New York, 2006–17).

Herzog & de Meuron have looked beyond the confines of traditional practice to enrich their architectural work, which is often the result of close collaboration with artists. In the projects showcased in the recent gift, these collaborations have involved artists Thomas Ruff (Eberswalde Technical School Library, Eberwalde, Germany, 1994–99), Michael Craig-Martin (Laban Dance Centre, London, UK, 1997–2003), and Ai Weiwei (National Stadium, The Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, China, 2002–08).
 
“For more than three decades, Herzog & de Meuron’s practice has been a singular and defining voice in the discourse of contemporary architecture. Thanks to the generosity of the office and the Jacques Herzog und Pierre de Meuron Kabinett, we will be able to include these key works of contemporary architectural production in our changing collection displays when the Museum opens its newly expanded galleries in 2019.”
Martino Stierli, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA

Finally, Herzog & de Meuron’s long engagement with Basel’s vital art world and with artists such as Joseph Beuys and Rémy Zaugg has decisively informed their large repertoire of architectural projects designed to allow visitors to experience modern art in novel ways. Two such projects, one private residence (Kramlich Residence and Collection, Oakville, Napa Valley, California, 1997–2018) and one museum (CaixaForum, Madrid, Spain, 2001–08), are included in this selection.

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Herzog & de Meuron Architekten is a Swiss architecture firm, founded and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland in 1978. The careers of founders and senior partners Jacques Herzog (born 1950), and Pierre de Meuron (born 1950), closely paralleled one another, with both attending the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich. They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Museum of Modern Art (2000). Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 (and in 1989) and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999. They are co-founders of the ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, which started a research programme on processes of transformation in the urban domain.

Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. An international team of 38 Associates and about 362 collaborators.

Herzog & de Meuron received international attention very early in their career with the Blue House in Oberwil, Switzerland (1980); the Stone House in Tavole, Italy (1988); and the Apartment Building along a Party Wall in Basel (1988).  The firm’s breakthrough project was the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen, Switzerland (1987).  Renown in the United States came with Dominus Winery in Yountville, California (1998). The Goetz Collection, a Gallery for a Private Collection of Modern Art in Munich (1992), stands at the beginning of a series of internationally acclaimed museum buildings such as the Küppersmühle Museum for the Grothe Collection in Duisburg, Germany (1999). Their most recognized buildings include Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, Japan (2003); Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany (2005); the new Cottbus Library for the BTU Cottbus, Germany (2005); the National Stadium Beijing, the Main Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China; VitraHaus, a building to present Vitra’s “Home Collection“, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2010); and 1111 Lincoln Road, a multi-storey mixed-use structure for parking, retail, a restaurant and a private residence in Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2010), the Actelion Business Center in Allschwil/Basel, Switzerland (2010). In recent years, Herzog & de Meuron have also completed projects such as the New Hall for Messe Basel Switzerland (2013), the Ricola Kräuterzentrum in Laufen (2014), which is the seventh building in a series of collaborations with Ricola, with whom Herzog & de Meuron began to work in the 1980s; and the Naturbad Riehen (2014), a public natural swimming pool. In April 2014, the practice completed its first project in Brazil: the Arena do Morro in the neighbourhood of Mãe Luiza, Natal, is the pioneering project within the wider urban proposal “A Vision for Mãe Luiza”.

Herzog & de Meuron have completed 6 projects since the beginning of 2015: a new mountain station including a restaurant on top of the Chäserrugg (2262 metres above sea level) in Toggenburg, Switzerland; Helsinki Dreispitz, a residential development and archive in Münchenstein/Basel, Switzerland; Asklepios 8 – an office building on the Novartis Campus in Basel, Switzerland; the Slow Food Pavilion for Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; the new Bordeaux stadium, a 42’000 seat multifunctional stadium for Bordeaux, France; Miu Miu Aoyama, a 720 m² boutique for the Prada-owned brand located on Miyuki Street, across the road from Prada Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

In many projects the architects have worked together with artists, an eminent example of that practice being the collaboration with Rémy Zaugg, Thomas Ruff and with Michael Craig-Martin.

Professionally, the Herzog & de Meuron partnership has grown to become an office with over 120 people worldwide. In addition to their headquarters in Basel, they have offices in London, Munich and San Francisco. Herzog has explained, “We work in teams, but the teams are not permanent. We rearrange them as new projects begin. All of the work results from discussions between Pierre and me, as well as our other partners, Harry Gugger and Christine Binswanger. The work by various teams may involve many different talents to achieve the best results which is a final product called architecture by Herzog & de Meuron.”

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Published on: January 25, 2019
Cite: "The MoMA Receives Major Gift of Works by Architects Herzog & de Meuron" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/moma-receives-major-gift-works-architects-herzog-de-meuron> ISSN 1139-6415
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