An Inquiry into the Architectural Identity of Herzog & de Meuron: A study of their Tate Modern, London, and the Museum of the Twentieth Century, Berlin, competition events and design strategies

At their RA summer exhibition in 2023 the architects Herzog and de Meuron claimed to not have an architectural style. By looking carefully at a select few of their projects, this essay examines what the claim means. Just as the exhibition directors had to devise a strategy for demonstrating the diversity and inventiveness of H&dM’s work within a limited space and timeframe, so it was necessary to devise a strategy for focusing on their design methods within the limited framework of a journal essay. To gain the necessary focus, the inquiry considered just two pairs of architectural competitions, both for museums of modern and contemporary art − in the cities of London and Berlin.