Cover From museum façades to concrete art spaces and glass-grid boutiques, these buildings reveal how Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron interpret Asia’s cities through light, texture and structure. (Photo: Prada)
From museum façades to concrete art spaces and glass-grid boutiques, these buildings reveal how Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron interpret Asia’s cities through light, texture and structure. (Photo: Prada)
1 / 1
In Asia, Herzog & de Meuron’s buildings balance structure, texture and light to reshape the rhythm of modern cities
Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron has designed some of the world’s most recognisable cultural buildings, from the Tate Modern in London to the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. In Asia, each project demonstrates an adjustment to context—spatial, cultural or technical—that reflects both the ambition of their clients and the conditions of the site. For travellers who have an appreciation for architecture, old and new, these buildings are more than case studies; they are landmarks that shape how visitors experience their cities. The firm’s projects in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo reveal how their interest in materiality and form translates across climates and urban densities. Whether a museum, headquarters or flagship store, these structures show how Herzog & de Meuron navigate different architectural environments with context and purpose.
Read more: 6 must-visit buildings in Dubai for architecture lovers
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
In the West Kowloon Cultural District along Victoria Harbour, the M+ Museum opened in late 2021. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron together with TFP Farrells and Arup, it comprises 65,000 square metres of building area, of which about 17,000 square metres is exhibition space spread over 33 galleries.
What makes it interesting is how it deals with multiple pre-existing constraints: beneath the site run the MTR Airport Express and Tung Chung lines, which meant—as described by the architects—that the “found space” of those tunnels has influenced design. The massing divides into a podium and a vertical tower, and the façades (concrete structure clad in ceramic tiles) respond to changing light and weather, distinguishing it from the surrounding glass and steel towers. While much media attention focuses on its LED media display facing the harbour, less commented upon is how the interior layout connects galleries, learning spaces, public circulation and roof terraces.
ST International HQ & SONGEUN Art Space, Seoul
The ST International HQ & SongEun Art Space, or “473 SongEun”, in Cheongdam-dong (Gangnam, Seoul), opened in 2021. It is Herzog & de Meuron’s first completed project in South Korea.
The building has 11 storeys above ground, with five underground levels. Its volume is sharply triangular from one angle; from another, it reads as more compact. The south façade is mostly concrete, interrupted by two long vertical windows. The concrete itself is textured: formwork of rotated wooden boards was used to create wood-grain imprinting on the surface, a motif tied to the name “SongEun” which means “hidden pine tree”.
The interiors are mixed-use: art studios and galleries at lower levels, office space above ground, and publicly accessible cultural spaces. The building includes a ramp or triple-height void acting as a threshold and a kind of public auditorium-slash-gallery. Its design responds to plot regulations, zoning constraints and the commercial context of Cheongdam-dong, which has high land value, dense buildup, and significant prestige.
Prada Aoyama Epicenter, Tokyo
The Prada Tokyo Epicenter in the Aoyama district, completed in 2003, is one of the more visible early Asian pieces by Herzog & de Meuron. The six-storey building has a diamond-grid structure of aluminium mullions filled with glass panels that are flat, convex or concave.
Here, Herzog & de Meuron explore transparency and optical effect: as some panels bulge, others recess, creating shifting reflections, distortions, a mixture of interior display and exterior presence. The building’s structure, space and façade are intertwined: the structural skin is both load-bearing and the visual veil. This Tokyo building establishes a precedent for Herzog & de Meuron in Asia: luxury retail architecture that abandons pure glazing boxes, showing an early sensitivity to its urban presence, particularly with changing light and angles, seeing the street, the passerby, the glimmer of reflection as part of its composition.
Topics
Chonx Tibajia is a senior editor at Tatler Asia’s T-Labs team, where she writes widely on lifestyle subjects including beauty, style, entertainment and travel. She has a long career in journalism, including roles as a columnist at The Philippine Star, and is the founder of the creative platform Pineappleversed. Beyond Tatler, her bylines appear in regional lifestyle and business publications, showcasing a broad portfolio that spans beauty trends, travel guides and culture pieces.
