Herzog & de Meuron, 1978-2002

Herzog & de Meuron, 1978-2002
Nobuyuki Yoshida (Editor)
A+U, February 2002



Paperback | 8-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches | 326 pages | Japanese/English | ISBN: 978-4900211551 | ¥5,800

Publisher Description:

February 2002 special edition of Architecture and Urbanism (A+U).

dDAB Commentary:

Reviewing a book on Philipp Schaerer's Bildbauten series a couple days ago prompted me to pull of my shelf a copy of this monograph on Herzog & de Meuron by Japan's A+U. It was published in early 2002, less than 12 months after the Swiss duo of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Schaerer, an architect known for his imagery that blurs the line between photos and renderings, reality and digital realms, worked at Herzog & de Meuron as "knowledge manager" from 2000 to 2006, overlapping with the Pritzker, this A+U, and Archaeology of the Mind, a 2002 exhibition at the CCA that had an accompanying catalog called Natural History. Schaerer's hand was more overt in the CCA exhibition and publication, which relied to a great degree on the display of models and photographs of models, but it's in evidence in this A+U as well, particularly with the in-progress projects in its first half.

As the title makes clear, the special issue presents projects from 1978 to 2002, from Herzog & de Meuron's founding to the date of publication. The first half has a dozen projects, most of them completed by now (many, like Prada Tokyo, were completed not long after publication, but the Kramlich Residence took 18 years to finish). The second half is made up of 35 selected works, many of them seminal Herzog & de Meuron buildings: Stone House, Ricola Storage Buildings, Signal Box, Dominus Winery, Tate Modern. Like any A+U issue, special or otherwise, this one is beautiful, from the photos and drawings, to the papers and inks, and to the short essays accompanying the projects. Nearly 20 years later, with many more Herzog & de Meuron publications having been released (or reprinted, as in the case of the three-volume Gerhard Mack Complete Works), this issue is for diehard fans of the architects and bibliophilic completists. But back then, with the duo having just won the Pritzker, it was too hard to pass up.

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Publisher Bio:

First published in January 1971, a+u – Architecture and Urbanism – is an architectural magazine in Japanese and English that provides information on architecture around the world to a global readership. As Japan’s only monthly periodical dedicated to disseminating information on architecture around the world, a+u has been widely and actively read by the architecture community since its inaugural issue.

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