By Luis Fernández-Galiano

The career of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron is presented through a series of essays that starts off with a critical appraisal of their first twenty years working together; a trajectory driven by a spirit of constant research that has made every project a fresh experience. Several of their essential works are described in detail, but the book goes further to encompass commentary on unbuilt projects and stage sets for operas, a new cataloguing of the architects’ stylistic traits, and an exploration of their intellectual roots through texts the duo has published themselves. Wrapping it all up is an article that ventures to explain why they have become the “gold standard” of architecture.