Stanislaus von Moos and Arthur Ruegg: Twentyfive x Herzog & de Meuron

The reality of architecture is not built architecture. Outside of this state of built/not built, architecture forms its own reality, comparable to the autonomous reality of a picture or a sculpture. – Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, 1988

The complete works of Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron comprise around 600 buildings in nearly 40 countries. This book is a personal selection by Stanislaus von Moos and Arthur Rüegg of 25 of the most important projects from throughout Herzog & de Meuron’s career-from Tate Modern in London, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen to the parking structure at 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami. Through photographs by Balthasar Burkhard, Hannah Villiger, Margherita Spiluttini, Iwan Baan, Thomas Ruff and Wolfgang Tillmans, along with detailed technical data, plans and bibliographic references, Twentyfive x Herzog & de Meuron encapsulates all central aspects of the work of these influential architects.

Two comprehensive essays reveal Herzog & de Meuron’s work ing methods: von Moos explores the influence of perception in painting, sculpture and photography on their practice, while Rüegg examines their ambivalent view of the built world and how it is expressed from project to project. The book also includes previously unpublished photographs by Pierre de Meuron and Jacques Herzog’s postcard collection-unexplored visual archives with a direct influence on their architectural work.

Author Biography

Herzog & de Meuron is a global architectural practice, founded in Basel in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The partnership has grown over the years, and today an international team of more than 500 employees under the leadership of a group of partners works on projects worldwide. The spectrum of building commissions ranges from housing to museums, libraries, stadiums, research facilities and hospitals, to urban planning and territorial studies of diverse scales. From the beginning an interdisciplinary working method has involved close collaborations with artists.

Stanislaus von Moos is an art historian whose books include monographs on Le Corbusier, Italian Renaissance architecture, and the work of Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates. Among his recent publications are Eyes That Saw. Architecture After Las Vegas (2020) and Erste Hilfe. Architekturdiskurs nach 1940. Eine Schweizer Spurensuche (2021). From 1983 to 2005 von Moos was Professor for Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Zurich.

Arthur Rüegg has worked as an independent architect in Zurich since 1971 (until 1998 with Hans-Uli Marbach). Rüegg has curated exhibitions including “100 years of Swiss Design” (2014) and “Le Corbusier und die Farbe” (2021), and his books as author and editor include Le Corbusier – Polychromie architecturale (2015) and Le Corbusier – Furniture and Interiors 1905-1965 (2012). From 1991 to 2007 he was Professor for Architecture and Construction at ETH Zurich.