Herzog & de Meuron

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron established their office in Basel in 1978. Nowadays, the firm is led by five senior partners and an international team of 35 associates, as well as numerous collaborators, with projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia. Their designs range from small-scale private homes to large-scale urban designs, though Herzog & de Meuron have gained particular acknowledgement for their highly recognisable public facilities such as museums and stadiums. Their 2011 design for the Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion in London marked the twelfth contribution to Kensington Gardens. For this project, Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with artist Ai Weiwei to create an archaeological pavilion rooted in the idea of memory. Taking visitors below the Serpentine’s lawn to explore the remains of previous pavilions, it was formed of twelve columns, eleven to characterise each past pavilion and one to represent and support the current structure with its floating platform roof.