Jacques Herzog life and biography

Jacques Herzog (born 19 April 1950) is a Swiss architect that founded with Pierre de Meuron Herzog & de Meuron Architekten (HdM), a Swiss architecture firm in Basel, Switzerland in 1978.
They are perhaps best known for their conversion of the giant Bankside Power Station in London to the new home of the Tate Modern. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have been visiting professors at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 1994 and professors at ETH Zürich since 1999.

In 2001, Herzog & de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest of honours in architecture. Jury chairman J. Carter Brown, commented, "One is hard put to think of any architects in history that have addressed the integument of architecture with greater imagination and virtuosity." This in reference to HdM's innovative use of exterior materials and treatments, such as silkscreened glass. Architecture critic and Pritzker juror Ada Louise Huxtable summarized HdM'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". In 2006, the New York Times Magazine called them "one of the most admired architecture firms in the world".

HdM's early works were reductivist pieces of modernity that registered on the same level as the minimalist art of Donald Judd. However, their recent work at Prada Tokyo, the Barcelona Forum Building and the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, suggest a changing attitude.

HdM's commitment of articulation through materiality is a common thread through all their projects.[clarification needed] Their formal gestures have generally progressed from the purist simplicity of rectangular forms to more complex and dynamic geometries. The architects often cite Joseph Beuys as an enduring 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.

Selected projects

Current
- Contemporary Art Museum Barranca de Huentitán, Guadalajara, México
- Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France
- Kolkata Museum of Modern Art, Kolkata
- Plaza de España, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife (ca. 2007)
- Instituto Óscar Domínguez de Arte y Cultura Boo Contemporánea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife (ca. 2007)
- 40 Bond Street New York City (ca. 2007)
- Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg, Germany (ca. 2009)
- Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA (ca. 2010)
- Portsmouth Dockland Stadium for Portsmouth Football Club, Portsmouth, England (ca. 2011)
- Tate Modern 2, Bankside, London (ca. 2012)
- São Paulo Companhia de Dança HQ, São Paulo, Brazil

Completed
- 2010 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL, USA
- 2008 Beijing National Stadium, Beijing, China
- 2008 CaixaForum Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- 2005 M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco
- 2005 Walker Art Center expansion, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 2005 Allianz Arena football stadium, Munich
- 2004 Forum Building, Barcelona
- 2004 IKMZ, Cottbus, Germany
- 2003 Laban Dance Centre, Deptford Creek, London
- 2001 St. Jakob-Park, Basel
- 2000 Tate Modern, Bankside, London
- 1999 Dominus winery, Napa Valley, California
- 1997 SBB switchtower, Basel
- 1992 Goetz Collection, Munich

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