Herzog & de Meuron Archive Opens at M+ Hong Kong With a Closer Look at Contemporary Architecture

Herzog & de Meuron is opening a deeper look into its design process through a new exhibition at M+ Hong Kong, bringing together archival material from the internationally recognized Swiss architecture practice. Titled 'Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus', the exhibition examines the firm's work in China through drawings, models, material studies, prototypes, photographs, and other objects that document how architectural ideas developed before becoming completed buildings.

Scheduled to open on September 12, 2026, the exhibition is part of M+'s fifth-anniversary programming and adds new depth to the museum's growing architecture collection. Rather than presenting architecture only through finished structures, the exhibition focuses on the research, experimentation, revisions, and physical studies that shape a project over time.

The presentation is particularly notable because it takes place inside M+, a major cultural institution in Hong Kong designed by Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with TFP Farrells and Arup. The setting creates an unusual opportunity to examine the architects' work while standing inside one of their own most significant projects in Asia.

Herzog & de Meuron Archive Offers a Look Behind the Buildings

The Herzog & de Meuron Archive provides insight into the stages of architectural production that are rarely visible once a project is completed. For the M+ exhibition, more than 200 process-related materials have been assembled around 10 projects in China dating from 2002 to 2021.

Among the projects represented are M+ in Hong Kong, the National Stadium in Beijing, commonly known as the Bird's Nest, and Tai Kwun in Hong Kong. The selection also includes projects and proposals that demonstrate different stages of the firm's work, allowing visitors to see how concepts changed as architects responded to materials, structure, scale, site conditions, and cultural context.

The archive is valuable because architectural drawings and models can reveal decisions that a finished building cannot easily communicate. A physical model, for example, can show how a form was tested in three dimensions, while sketches can reveal ideas that were eventually modified or abandoned.

This approach also reflects the broader importance of architecture archives. Preserving design material allows researchers, students, architects, and the public to examine architecture as a process rather than simply as a collection of completed landmarks.

Architecture Archives Put the Design Process in Focus

The M+ presentation places considerable emphasis on the relationship between experimentation and architectural results. Instead of treating models and drawings as secondary illustrations, the exhibition gives them a central role in explaining how Herzog & de Meuron approaches design.

The firm's archival practices are also reflected in the exhibition's presentation. The display system draws inspiration from Kabinett, a foundation established in 2015 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron to preserve architectural knowledge and encourage research and exchange. Wooden vitrines based on those used for the firm's archival holdings in Basel help organize the material at M+.

The result is a closer examination of the thinking behind projects that have become familiar through photographs and architectural coverage. Visitors can encounter early ideas alongside more developed proposals and see how a project can evolve through repeated testing.

That perspective is increasingly relevant to contemporary architecture, where digital tools, physical modeling, material experimentation, and collaborative research all influence the design process. By making these stages visible, M+ gives architectural work a greater sense of context and chronology.

Hong Kong Architecture Connects Swiss Design With China

The exhibition carries particular significance for Hong Kong because Herzog & de Meuron has played a direct role in the city's contemporary architectural landscape. M+, located in the West Kowloon Cultural District, was developed by the practice between 2012 and 2021 and has become one of the city's most recognizable cultural buildings.

Its inclusion in the exhibition creates a direct link between the archive and the architecture surrounding visitors. The museum's distinctive facade and large-scale structure can be understood differently when viewed alongside the drawings, models, and studies that preceded construction.

The broader selection also places Swiss architecture within the rapidly changing context of China. Herzog & de Meuron's projects across the country have included cultural institutions, sports facilities, museums, and urban developments. Looking at these projects together provides a record of how an international practice responded to different sites and ambitions during a period of significant architectural growth.

For Hong Kong architecture, the exhibition also demonstrates how international practices have contributed to the city's evolving cultural identity. M+ itself was conceived as part of a larger cultural district, making its architecture inseparable from the city's transformation into a major destination for art and design.

Herzog & de Meuron Archive Expands the Architecture Story

The arrival of this material at M+ is significant not only for followers of Herzog & de Meuron but also for anyone interested in how contemporary architecture is developed, documented, and preserved. The exhibition shifts attention from iconic photographs of finished buildings toward the less visible work that makes those buildings possible.

For M+, the presentation strengthens its position as an institution focused on visual culture, architecture, and design. For visitors, it provides an opportunity to understand familiar projects through a different lens, one that emphasizes questions, experiments, revisions, and decisions rather than final forms.

The exhibition also adds an important perspective to current architecture design news. At a time when architectural work is increasingly discussed through completed projects and striking imagery, the Herzog & de Meuron Archive demonstrates why the material behind those images matters.

'Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus' is scheduled to run from September 12, 2026, through January 10, 2027. Its presentation at M+ Hong Kong offers a rare opportunity to explore how one of the world's prominent architecture practices developed its work in China and how those ideas ultimately became part of the built environment.