The Pritzker Prize is the most important award in the field of architecture, awarded to a living architect whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture." The Prize rewards individuals, not entire offices, as took place in 2000 (when the jury selected Rem Koolhaas instead of his firm OMA) or in 2016 (with Alejandro Aravena selected instead of Elemental); however, the prize can also be awarded to multiple individuals working together, as took place in 2001 (Herzog & de Meuron), 2010 (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA), and 2017 (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta of RCR Arquitectes).
Jacques Herzog: The Latest Architecture and News
Herzog & de Meuron Reveals Design for Lusail Art Museum in Qatar
Qatar Museums has released renderings showcasing the future Lusail Museum, designed by Swiss architecture office Herzog & de Meuron. The museum will house one of the largest collections of Orientalist art, exploring the movement of people and ideas across the globe and over the centuries. The new institution also strives to provide opportunities for high-level study for scholars, academics, policymakers, and curators. Consequently, the building is conceived as “a vertically layered souk, or miniature city contained within a single building,” aiming to encourage conversations, debates, and meditation on global issues.
Herzog & de Meuron Receives the 2023 Louis I. Kahn Award
Herzog & de Meuron has been honored as the 36th Louis I. Kahn Award winner by the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia. The annual award, founded in 1983 in memory of Philadelphia architect Louis Kahn, celebrates individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of architecture. Jaques Herzog, one of the two founders of the Swiss-based architecture firm, will present a talk on behalf of this office during the official award ceremony, to be held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Anthropology and Archeology at 6:30 pm on May 31, 2023.
The Power of Emotions: How Does Space Move Us?
"The taste of the apple lies in the contact of the fruit with the palate, not in the fruit itself," Jorge Luis Borges once said. The taste is not something inherent in itself; its experience is the result of an encounter. Similarly, emotions are not contained within architecture, but are only felt through the encounter of the body with the space, when it becomes a place. How does the environment affect how we feel? This is the question that drives the duo of artists and filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine in their latest endeavor, the book "The Emotional Power of Space," which will be released on May 17th in an event preceding the opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
Herzog & de Meuron Collaborates with Piet Oudolf to Design the Calder Gardens in Philadephia
Herzog & de Meuron and landscape designer Piet Oudolf are collaborating to create Calder Gardens, which will house and display artworks by American sculptor Alexander Calder. Located between Vine Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, the 6,500 square meter site will house a two-story building, half of which is developed underground. Instead of developing the site as a typical museum, the team decided to transform it into a garden as an attractive alternative for the people of Philadelphia.
OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, and ELEMENTAL to Design Three New Museums in Qatar
Following Qatar's ambitious museum-building project to further promote cultural institutes in the country, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums has announced that OMA, Herzog & de Meuron, and ELEMENTAL will be designing three new museums in Doha that explore the themes of Islamic art, contemporary art, and evolution of the automobile industry respectively.
Herzog & de Meuron Design Switzerland's First Middle School on the Roof of a Shopping Center
Herzog & de Meuron have designed Switzerland's first middle school placed on the roof of a shopping center in Basel-Stadt. The MParc Dreispitz shopping center will accommodate a Sekundarschule (middle school) for 600 students as part of the overall transformation of Dreispitz Nord. The design aims to set a precedent for future urban developments as the school becomes a central part of the site's overall master plan.
121 Definitions of Architecture
There are at least as many definitions of architecture as there are architects or people who comment on the practice of it. While some embrace it as art, others defend architecture’s seminal social responsibility as its most definitive attribute. To begin a sentence with “Architecture is” is a bold step into treacherous territory. And yet, many of us have uttered — or at least thought— “Architecture is…” while we’ve toiled away on an important project, or reflected on why we’ve chosen this professional path.
Most days, architecture is a tough practice; on others, it is wonderfully satisfying. Perhaps, though, most importantly, architecture is accommodating and inherently open to possibility.
This collection of statements illustrates the changing breadth of architecture’s significance; we may define it differently when talking among peers, or adjust our statements for outsiders.
This Week in Architecture: A Little Less Conversation
Kanye West is, according to Kanye West, a reformed man. After months of making headlines over his bizarre political views, he stated on Wednesday that, “my eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!”
While this most likely means a return to his music career, this statement could also indicate a renewed interest in his design projects. The rapper’s interest in architecture is more than just a passing one; he’s collaborated with noted architects such as Jacques Herzog and Rem Koolhaas and has declared on multiple occasions his desire for everything to be “architected.”
How to Pronounce the Names of 22 Notable Architects
There’s no doubt that one of the best things about architecture is its universality. Wherever you come from, whatever you do, however you speak, architecture has somehow touched your life. However, when one unexpectedly has to pronounce a foreign architect’s name... things can get a little tricky. This is especially the case when mispronunciation could end up making you look less knowledgeable than you really are. (If you're really unlucky, it could end up making you look stupid in front of your children and the whole world.)
To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of 22 architects with names that are a little difficult to pronounce, and paired them with a recording in which their names are said impeccably. Listen and repeat as many times as it takes to get it right, and you’ll be prepared for any intellectual architectural conversation that comes your way.
Watch Now: Jacques Herzog Lecture Livestream
Jacques Herzog’s first lecture in Denmark will be livestreamed on April 28, from 11:30 – 1:30 EST, during which the Swiss architect will discuss the New North Zealand Hospital project. Herzog & de Meuron, along with Danish firm Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, was selected to design the 124,000-square-meter facility during an international design competition last year. To be built near Hillerød, the hospital will be Herzog & de Meuron’s first project in Scandinavia. Learn more about the project and view the livestream of the lecture after the break.
Jacques Herzog, Masterplanner of the Milan 2015 Expo, Thinks it will be a "Vanity Fair"
It seems Jacques Herzog is not particularly excited about the opening of the 2015 Expo in Milan later this year. In an interview with uncube magazine Herzog - one half of Herzog & de Meuron, the Expo's masterplanners - explains why they left the project in 2011, along with collaborators Stefano Boeri, William McDonough and Ricky Burdett. In their absence, he says, the Expo will now feature their plan "only as an urbanistic and formal pattern, not as an intellectual concept," and their plan to transform the event into "a radically new vision for a world exhibition" has been twisted so that the Expo "will be the same kind of vanity fair that we’ve seen in the past." Read the full interview here.
Mies. TV: Alternative Coverage of the 2014 Venice Biennale
In June of this year seven architecture students came together to film the vernissage of the Venice Biennale. Undaunted by the unrelenting Venetian sun and the prospect of being faced by some of the world's greatest living architects and curators, the team - spanning four nationalities - spent three days feverishly talking to anyone and everyone (in between pasta and espresso breaks). Having built up a comprehensive picture of the opening days of the Biennale in a series of short, uninhibited filmed interviews, Mies. TV proudly presents their alternative, slightly shaky coverage of the 2014 Venice Biennale.
Watch short interviews with the likes of Jacques Herzog (Herzog + de Meuron), Daniel Libeskind, Patrik Schumacher (Zaha Hadid Architects), Sir Peter Cook (CRAB Studio), Wolf D. Prix (Coop Himmelb(l)au), Sam Jacob (FAT), and ArchDaily's very own Editor-in-Chief - David Basulto - after the break.