An interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition (national particpation of Switzerland: "Lucius Burckhardt and Cedric Price. A stroll through a fun palace").
The Swiss Pavilion in Venice, just round the corner from the main entrance to the 'Giardini publici' exhibition site, was set up by architect Bruno Giacometti in 1951/52 and is in the possession of the Swiss Confederation. The layout is based on the original functional division into sculpture room, graphics room and the skylit room for paintings.
Cedric Price (1934–2003) was an architect, thinker and above all an Englishman of extraordinary generosity towards his subject. He had an independence of mind the like of which can only come from a fondness for humans and a fascination for human nature. For Price, the moral and ethical principles implied in any design speculation are privileged over and above variations on the artefactual by-product. In this respect the role of the many rich collaborations over his lifetime, conversations and talks amongst audiences, engaging with the media as a means of initiating discussion, and the more personal dialogue presented in his notebooks were all critical in developing his design thinking on the themes of participation, anticipation, indeterminacy and delight. The films and drawings from Price’s personal notebooks that appear in the exhibition present Price doing what he did best over a period of 40 years – constantly challenging our understanding of what architecture might be, in discussions with students, colleagues, strangers and himself.
Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003) was a Swiss political economist, sociologist, art historian and planning theorist and is well known as founding father of ‘strollology’– his science of the walk. He was a pioneer of an interdisciplinary analysis of man-made environments and discussed both the visible and invisible aspects of our cities, landscapes, political processes and social relations, as well as the long-term effects of design and planning decisions. He established the importance of sociology in architecture education and in 1969, in the aftermath of student revolts, he conceded to student demands by establishing at the ETH Zurich a professional ‘sofa’ in contrast to the professional chair. This was the beginning of his project ‘Lehrcanapé’ a form of teaching focusing on issues of contemporary complexity that were representative of real professional difficulties and on solutions that ideally manifested an interdisciplinary approach. His experiment addressed the role of architecture in society and led to radical demands for more democratic, participatory structures in academic institutions.
Hans Ulrich Obrist (born 1968, Zurich, Switzerland) is co-director of the Serpentine Galleries, London. Prior to this, he was the Curator of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris. Since his first show ‘World Soup’ (The Kitchen Show) in 1991 he has curated more than 250 exhibitions. Obrist’s recent publications include A Brief History of Curating, Project Japan: Metabolism Talks with Rem Koolhaas, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Curating But Were Afraid to Ask, Do It: The Compendium, Think Like Clouds, Ai Weiwei Speaks, Sharp Tongues - Loose Lips - Open Eyes - Ears to the Ground, along with new volumes of his Conversation Series.
Herzog & de Meuron is an international architecture practice founded in 1978 in Basel, Switzerland, by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, both born in Basel in 1950. The practice's work encompasses projects of different scales and programmes, from housing and cultural buildings to hospitals, stadiums, infrastructure, and urban developments. Its architecture is characterised by an ongoing investigation into materials, construction processes, and the relationship between buildings and their context.
Jacques Herzog (Basel, Switzerland, 1950) and Pierre de Meuron (Basel, Switzerland, 1950) studied architecture between 1970 and 1975 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), where they were students of Aldo Rossi and Dolf Schnebli. Friends since childhood, they began a professional partnership that has maintained a close relationship between architectural practice, research, and teaching.
Jacques Herzog was a visiting professor at Cornell University in 1983. Both architects taught as visiting professors at Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 1989 and between 1994 and 2014, and were professors at ETH Zürich from 1999 to 2018. They also co-founded ETH Studio Basel – Contemporary City Institute, a research programme focused on processes of urban and territorial transformation.
During its early years, the practice gained international recognition with projects such as the Blue House in Oberwil (1980), the Ricola Storage Building in Laufen (1987), the Stone House in Tavole (1988), and Dominus Winery in Yountville, California (1998). These projects helped establish an architectural approach based on material experimentation, the reinterpretation of construction systems, and the exploration of new relationships between structure, building envelope, and space.
The practice's international reputation grew significantly with the transformation of the former Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern in London (2000), one of the most influential cultural adaptive reuse projects of recent decades. This was followed by buildings such as Schaulager in Münchenstein (2003), Prada Aoyama in Tokyo (2003), the de Young Museum in San Francisco (2005), Allianz Arena in Munich (2005), CaixaForum Madrid (2008), the Beijing National Stadium (2008), VitraHaus in Weil am Rhein (2010), and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg (2017).
The practice has also expanded its work into museums, collective housing, educational and healthcare buildings, and urban transformation. Notable projects include Pérez Art Museum Miami (2013), the extension of Tate Modern in London (2016), the residential tower at 56 Leonard Street in New York (2017), the Tai Kwun cultural centre in Hong Kong (2018), the M+ museum in Hong Kong (2021), and the extension of Museum Küppersmühle in Duisburg (2021).
In recent years, Herzog & de Meuron has completed projects including the University Children's Hospital Zurich (2024), the Roche pRED research centre in Basel (2024), the Hortus office building in Allschwil (2025), the new Lombard Odier headquarters in Bellevue, Geneva (2025), Calder Gardens in Philadelphia (2025), and the transformation of Marcel Breuer's building on Madison Avenue in New York for Sotheby's (2025). Further projects followed in 2026, including Titlis Tower in Engelberg and the Ford Student Center at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
A distinctive aspect of the practice's work has been its collaboration with artists from different generations, including Rémy Zaugg, Thomas Ruff, and Michael Craig-Martin, alongside projects exploring the relationships between architecture, contemporary art, and public space.
Herzog & de Meuron currently employs more than 500 professionals from approximately 50 countries. The practice maintains its headquarters in Basel, with offices in cities including Berlin, Barcelona, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York, Paris, and San Francisco. Its leadership structure comprises the founding partners, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, together with a team of senior partners, partners, and associate partners. Senior partners include Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler, Stefan Marbach, Jason Frantzen, Andreas Fries, and Wim Walschap, who became Chief Executive Officer of the practice in May 2026.
In 2001, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In 2007, they received the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association, followed by the RIBA Jencks Award in 2015. That same year, they established the non-profit institution Jacques Herzog und Pierre de Meuron Kabinett, dedicated to preserving, researching, and sharing their collections of architecture, art, and photography.
Atelier Bow-Wow was established in 1992 by Yoshiharu Tsukamoto and Momoyo Kaijima in Tokyo. Best known for its projects in dense urban environments, the firm has developed its practice based on a profound study of existing cultural, economic, and environmental conditions—a study that led it to propose the term “pet architecture” for the multitude of odd, and functional little buildings wedged into tiny sites around Tokyo. Atelier Bow-Wow has also acquired an enthusiastic following through its Micro Public Space projects, as well as innovative projects for exhibitions such as the 2010 Venice Biennale (as an official representative of Japan) and the São Paulo Bienal, and at venues such as the Hayward Gallery in London, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, The Gallery at REDCAT in Los Angeles, the Japan Society in New York, and the OK Offenes Kulturhaus Oberösterreich in Linz, Austria.
Yoshiharu Tsukamoto
1965 Born in Kanagawa, Japan
1987 Graduate from Tokyo Institute of Technology
1987-88 Guest Student of L'ecole d'architecture, Paris, Bellville (U.P.8)
1994 Graduate from Post-graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology, Dr.Eng.
2000- Associate Professor of Tokyo Institute of Technology
2003, 2007 Visiting Faculty of Harvard GSD
2007, 2008 Visiting Associate Professor of UCLA
Momoyo Kaijima
1969 Born in Tokyo, Japan
1991 Graduate from Japan Women's University
1994 Graduate from Graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology, M.Eng.
1996-97 Guest student of E.T.H
1999 Graduate from Post-graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology
2000- Assistant professor of University of Tsukuba
2003 Visiting Faculty of Harvard GSD
2005-07 ETHZ Guest Professor
2009- Associate professor of University of Tsukuba
