HONG KONG.- M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong, announced a two-phase donation by the world-renowned architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron which is also the architect of the M+ building. The first phase of the donation consists of a section model of the Beijing National Stadium (2002-2008), commonly known as the ‘Bird’s Nest’, which served as the main stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The second phase of the donation will include various process materials from Herzog & de Meuron’s key projects in Asia and beyond. The donation makes M+ the first museum in Asia to have a significant holding of materials related to the work of Herzog & de Meuron, alongside The Museum of Modern Art in New York and Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Established in Basel, Switzerland in 1978, Herzog & de Meuron has been active in Asia since the 2000s and has designed many iconic public and private facilities such as museums and stadiums, as well as commercial buildings around the world. The practice has received many distinguished architectural awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2001), the RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2007), the Praemium Imperiale (2007), and the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (2014).
The Beijing National Stadium reflects China’s building boom around the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and represents a leap for architecture, urban planning, and creativity in China. The model resonates well with the works currently in M+’s design and architecture collection and demonstrates how design and architecture embody the region’s specific aspirations and character. The ‘Bird’s Nest’ model is now on display in the East Galleries of M+ as part of the ongoing exhibition Things, Spaces, Interactions, in the section exploring late postmodernism in Asia with contemporary design and architecture practices that reflect regional specificities and technical developments.
The Beijing National Stadium is located at the focal point of the Olympic complex, situated in the northern end of Beijing’s Central Axis, which is on UNESCO’s tentative list of world heritage locations and connects historical sites such as the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. In 2001, seven years before the Beijing Olympics, the Beijing Municipal Government initiated an international architecture competition calling for designs of sports arenas, reflecting China’s rapidly growing economic power and global standing. In 2003, the proposal put forward by Herzog & de Meuron, together with China Architecture Design and Research Group and Arup, was chosen among thirteen finalists’ proposals.
The public gave the Beijing National Stadium the nickname of ‘niao chao’, or ‘Bird’s Nest’, providing an identity for the building as a large collective vessel to be filled and activated by people and events from the early stages. The interlocking structure for the exterior and interior of the stadium references traditional Chinese artefacts such as crackle-glaze ceramics and carved wood screens. In addition to being the facade and the roof, this structure draws a perimeter around the main arena, creating an open and large shaded public space combining aesthetic design, space, and form. Like a robust walk-in sculpture enlivened by athletes and audiences, the stadium achieved its purpose and caught the world’s attention as the architectural icon of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
Suhanya Raffel, Museum Director, M+, says, ‘Herzog & de Meuron is one of the most prominent global architecture practices in the world and the architect of the M+ building. We are truly excited to receive the donation from our long-time partner. The model will cement the M+ design and architecture collection as one of the world’s leading collections, and we are proud to share this work with visitors from across the globe in one of our current exhibitions.’
Ikko Yokoyama, Lead Curator, Design and Architecture, M+, says, ‘The architecture of the Beijing National Stadium is an iconic example of China’s many ambitious building projects from the early 2000s, which were planned as a display of the country’s social and economic power on the international stage. This narrative speaks to the theme of local and national identities within the global context, one of the core themes of our design and architecture discipline at M+, and we are excited to welcome such an important addition to our collection. We are also delighted to work with Herzog & de Meuron on the second phase of the donation, which will include process materials of other works that are incredibly valuable to our archival approach.’
Pierre de Meuron, Founding Partner, Herzog & de Meuron, says, 'Herzog & de Meuron unceasingly explores how architecture and urban design can meet the needs of our rapidly changing world and foster public life. M+ and the Beijing National Stadium are two key examples of this commitment. Our specific approach to thinking and reflecting about the perception and presentation of architecture steered us to establish the Kabinett in Basel—a place for research and exchange that holds all the materials produced and collected by our practice since 1978, including the model of the Beijing National Stadium donated to M+. With this donation to M+, we carry on our long-standing relationship and fruitful exchange between Basel and Hong Kong by sharing this living archive with the public.’
