Renowned Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron is experiencing a remarkable week of international recognition, with the Basel-based star architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron receiving prestigious awards and celebrating major project milestones across Europe. On Wednesday, the duo was honored with the Grand Prix des Beaux-Arts de l'Architecture for their lifetime achievements, marking just the beginning of several significant events.
The Grand Prix des Beaux-Arts de l'Architecture represents the most important architectural prize awarded by the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts, based in Paris. In their official statement, the Academy praised Herzog & de Meuron's work for combining "research, innovation, and cultural engagement," describing their practice as "one of the most influential in world architecture." This recognition adds to the already impressive list of accolades for the internationally celebrated firm.
The week's honors continued on Thursday evening with the potential addition of the Stirling Prize to Herzog & de Meuron's extensive portfolio. The award ceremony, organized by the Royal Institute of British Architects and held at London's Round House, is considered the most prestigious architectural honor in the United Kingdom. The firm earned its nomination for the innovative AstraZeneca Discovery Centre, a cutting-edge research and laboratory facility constructed for the pharmaceutical giant in Cambridge.
According to the architectural firm's press materials, the AstraZeneca Discovery Centre features a distinctive triangular glass disc design with rounded edges, characterized by a distinctive sawtooth shed roof system. This architectural element was specifically designed to optimize natural lighting throughout the building's interior spaces, demonstrating the firm's commitment to both aesthetic innovation and functional excellence.
Friday marked another significant milestone with the topping-out ceremony for Museum Berlin Modern, a major cultural project being constructed at the Kulturforum in Berlin-Mitte. This new museum building is designed to complement the existing Neue Nationalgalerie, which currently displays 20th-century art but lacks sufficient space to showcase the full breadth of its masterpiece collection. For Berlin's cultural landscape, this expansion represents a crucial milestone in the city's ongoing cultural development.
The Museum Berlin Modern project is scheduled for completion by 2027 and will provide 9,000 square meters of exhibition space dedicated to modern artworks. The building has been specifically designed with sustainability as a core principle, featuring numerous environmentally conscious elements. The structure will include a massive 4,000-square-meter photovoltaic solar panel installation on its roof, and construction incorporates recycled concrete along with other reclaimed building materials.
However, the Berlin project has not been without financial challenges. According to reports from RBB, the originally estimated construction costs have risen dramatically from 200 million euros to 364 million euros. This significant cost increase resulted from multiple factors, including political pressure that led to more environmentally friendly design modifications, additional risk management costs, and general construction price inflation that has affected projects across the industry.
Herzog & de Meuron's global influence extends far beyond these current projects, with the firm continuing to work on major developments worldwide. Their international portfolio includes diverse projects ranging from massive cost-overrun situations in Canada, where they lost a multimillion-dollar contract, to luxury art spaces in the United States, including a multimillion-dollar barn-style structure in Philadelphia. Closer to home, the firm remains involved in significant Swiss developments, including residential projects featuring three high-rise towers in the Dreispitz Nord development, which recently received government approval for the new urban quarter.
