Jacques Herzog: The Latest Architecture and News

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.

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Herzog & de Meuron has been honored as the 36^th 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.

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"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 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.

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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 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.

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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.”

Videos

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.