When asked ‘Who are my top ten architects?’ one of the first to come to mind is, Herzog & de Meuron.
This year was the year of the Olympic Games at Beijing, China as your most likely aware of and these are the guys that designed the Main National Stadium. It is the most striking of a series of spectacular architectural projects designed for the city. The 100,000 seat structure represents the most innovative stadium designed since the free-form tent structure used for the Munich Olympic stadium in 1972 and from what we have seen from the logo it wouldn’t surprise me if it outshines London’s planned stadium for 2012.
Herzog & de Meuron are a Swiss architecture firm. Their design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics. It was called the “nest scheme”. The stadium consists of two independent structures, standing 50 feet apart: a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it. The original purpose of the apparently random steel beams was to hide the supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a “Bird’s nest” which became a popular nickname. However, the retractable roof was later removed from the design. The stadium was officially opened in June 2008 and is now the worlds largest steel structure.
Herzog & de Meuron was founded by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. They are also known for their redesign of the Bankside Power Station in London when it became the new home of the Tate Modern in 2000. The most obvious external change is the blocky two-story glass extension on one half of the roof. Much of the internal structure remains, including the spacious main turbine hall.
