Published on the occasion of the exhibition Herzog & de Meuron held in summer, 1994 at Peter Blum and the Swiss Institute in New York.

More than any of their contemporaries, Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are challenging the boundaries between architecture and art. Natural History explores that challenge, examining how the work of this formidable pair has drawn upon the art of both past and present, and brought architecture into dialogue with the art of our time. Echoing an encyclopedia, this publication reflects the natural history museum structure of the exhibition which it accompanies, organized by the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Models and projects by Herzog & de Meuron, as well as by other artists, are structured around six thematic portfolios that suggest an evolutionary history of the architects' work: Appropriation & Reconstruction, Transformation & Alienation, Stacking & Compression, Imprints & Moulds, Interlocking Spaces, and Beauty & Atmosphere. Each section is introduced with a statement from Herzog, and more than 20 artists, scholars, and architects have contributed essays, including Carrie Asman, Georges Didi-Huberman, Kurt W. Forster, Boris Groys, Ulrike Meyer Stump, Peggy Phelan, Thomas Ruff, Rebecca Schneider, Adolf Max Vogt, and Jeff Wall.

Standing on the south bank of the Thames opposite the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's vast brick edifice, with its tower of 325 feet, dominates the scenery and ranks among the most imposing structures of central London. Yet, after its closure in 1981, the Bankside Power Station was rendered invisible to the public eye by its redundancy and the frequent threat of demolition. The reopening of Bankside in May 2000 as London's first national gallery of modern and contemporary art restores the grandeur of Scott's design and regenerates a much neglected area of the city.The conversion to art gallery by the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron is marked by its extreme simplicity, at once enhancing the physical presence of the original architecture and completely transforming its derelict and impenetrable interior into an accessible, light-filled exhibition center. The tremendous affinity of contemporary art with ex-industrial settings has inspired a design that retains the monumental scale of the Turbine Hall and skillfully offers a range of spaces for widely differing types of art on the multiple floors of the Old Boiler House.This publication follows the story of the Bankside project and presents a stunning photographic account of every stage of its transformation. Including an interview with Jacques Herzog and Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, it provides a detailed analysis of Herzog and de Meuron's design and redefines the Tate's role within contemporary culture.

Between 1996 and 2000 the renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron built a new research centre together with a library, auditorium and cafeteria for the pharmaceutical company Roche in Basle. Situated on the outskirts of the town on the edge of the industrial area, the building was to include a closed section for laboratories yet should also be publicly accessible: the ideal starting point for an interdisciplinary solution. Artist Rémy Zaugg worked together with the architects developing the colours used. In particular he created a dramatic blue wall which separates public and restricted areas. This publication documents the entire project from its genesis to the completed construction, using texts, sketches, plans and photographs. More than a mere monograph, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into the creative collaboration occuring between architects and artists.

Jeff Wall and Jacques Herzog are among art and architecture's most successful representatives. Award-winning photographer Wall's photography of Herzog & de Meuron's Dominus Winery in California (1999) represents the point of departure for a discussion on the relationship between art and photography. Questions arise on topics such as "photogenic architecture," the construction of pictures and buildings, and the question of time.

The design team responsible for the celebrated Beijing National Stadium, which was built for the 2008 Olympic Games, comes together again in London in 2012 for the Serpentine's acclaimed annual commission, being presented as part of the London 2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. The Pavilion is Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei's first collaborative built structure in the UK.This year's Pavilion will take visitors beneath the Serpentine's lawn to explore the hidden history of its previous Pavilions. Eleven columns characterising each past Pavilion and a twelfth column representing the current structure will support a floating platform roof 1.4 metres above ground.The Pavilion's interior is clad in cork, a sustainable building material chosen for its unique qualities and to echo the excavated earth.