Publisher's Synopsis
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 The book also includes previously unpublished photographs by Pierre de Meuron and Jacques Herzog's postcard collection-unexplored visual archives with a direct influence on their architectural work.
