Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus" no M+

Models, drawings, prototypes, sketches, and archival documents reveal the behind-the-scenes of ten built and unbuilt projects by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron in this exhibition celebrating the fifth anniversary of M+, a museum designed by the duo in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup. The material comes from the second phase of a major donation from the firm to the museum. One of the highlights is the Bird's Nest, a stadium created for the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a team that included Arup and the China Architectural Design & Research Group, with Ai Weiwei as artistic consultant. Instead of conventional display cases, the exhibition uses replicas of the wooden cabinets developed for the Kabinett project in Basel – a solution that bypasses a classic problem in architecture exhibitions, as the building itself cannot be brought to the gallery, and models and drawings need to function as substitutes for the built work. According to M+ Senior Curator Ikko Yokoyama, the open storage format transforms the gallery into a space for discovery and dialogue, revealing the research and decision-making process behind each project, from initial concept to built form. Founded in Basel in 1978, the firm was already an international force before its extensive work in Asia, with projects such as the conversion of Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern, the Prada Aoyama in Tokyo, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.