Herzog & de Meuron at the Royal Academy of Arts
From 14 July to 15 October 2023, the Royal Academy of Arts is presenting an exhibition of the critically acclaimed Swiss architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron (H&dM), the first in London for almost twenty years.
Source: Royal Academy of Arts, London · Image: The M+ museum in West Kowloon Cultural District, Hong Kong. Image by Lord Jaraxxus, license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International
Founded in Basel in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the practice has shaped cities across the world by reimagining the nature of architecture. This exhibition, curated in close collaboration with the architects, provides visitors with an insight into the thinking and approaches applied to their projects. With a range of working methods, materials and technologies displayed, it is an opportunity to experience H&dM’s architecture and its surrounding contexts.
Notable recent and current projects include museums, hospitals, stadiums, and private and public buildings including Tate Modern, London (2000 and 2016), Laban Dance Centre, London (2003), the National Stadium Beijing (Bird’s Nest) (2008), Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (2016), REHAB Basel (2002 and 2020), M+, Hong Kong (2021), the Royal College of Art, London (2022) and Kinderspital Zürich (to be completed in 2024).
The exhibition is arranged in a sequence of three spaces that together explore the ideas and processes in the making and experience of architecture. The first room brings a part of H&dM’s Kabinett, an open storage and research space, from Basel to London. Tall timber shelves shows around 400 objects including a range of models, materials, prints, photographs and film clips, representing a diverse, yet specific, range of projects. Alongside these Kabinett vitrines will be six large photographic works of select projects by artist Thomas Ruff, illustrating H&dM’s interest in the perception of architecture and their long-standing collaborations with artists. Via augmented reality (AR), visitors will also be able to delve further into projects which will be brought to life in the exhibition through digital 3D models and animation.
The second room is a film space. A large central screen shows a new film by renowned filmmakers Bêka & Lemoine, featuring daily life at H&dM’s project REHAB Clinic for Neurorehabilitation and Paraplegiology in Basel, Switzerland. On the other side of the screen is a film installation based on observations of people occupying and exploring H&dM projects.
The final room is dedicated to healing architecture and will focus on a single project which is currently under construction, the Kinderspital Zürich, Switzerland. The project won an international competition in 2012, which called for a new facility with pioneering hospital architecture. The display gives visitors an insight into the work process and the questions H&dM asks itself when approaching the design of a healing space. The room includes a 1:1 interior mock-up of a section of a hospital patient room, illustrating H&dM’s humanising of hospital rooms and designs. Visitors will be able to explore the room at full scale using AR.
