Out of Storage, Art Review

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron tell Bettina von Hase what makes them tick

The Schaulager ('viewing depot') for contemporary art in the Swiss city of Basel is staging its second temporary exhibition on the work of its creators, local architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. Internationally renowned for their museums and retail buildings all over the world, including Tate Modern and the Prada headquarters in Tokyo, Herzog & de Meuron are allowing visitors a glimpse behind the scenes of their practice for the first time. The show, which starts on 8 May, is called "No. 250. An Exhibition', with the numbering intended to emphasize that the spotlight is on the process of creation rather than on the finished work. "Very few architectural shows have been successful. They resemble art-type shows you see in schools, with only representational models," says Herzog. "It's been a real challenge to approach it differently, like a project, strongly based on our archive.'

The exhibition has three distinct parts, which Herzog describes provocatively as "refuse", "life" and a "connecting current' between the two. "Refuse", says Herzog, means leftovers from past projects, "which are like dead shells from the sea, objects that were necessary to take the next step'. "Life" is represented by film and video projects by artists Zilla Leutenegger and Ai Wei Wei, and photographer Armin Link, depicting people going about their daily lives in Herzog & de Meuron buildings. The third element is a series of mini-galleries focusing on particular projects: two cities in China (Jinhua near Shanghai, and a part of Beijing); a collaboration with Thomas Ruff; Herzog's drawings and sketches; their teachings at Harvard and the Federal School of Technology in Basel; and the entire documentation for the Schaulager.

It is fitting that a major survey of their multi-faceted career should be installed in this building, container and content in perfect harmony. Created for the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, the Schaulager has a new concept for storing and displaying art, where the former takes centre stage. The architects are known for their experimental attitude which is underpinned by a blend of the cerebral and sensual. "We want to show what we can do and what we should reach out for," says Herzog. "In a way, we build something tangible to develop an idea, and not the other way around. It's the quality of life of the people in our buildings we are really interested in; what is going to happen to them?

Winners of both the Pritzker and RIBA Stirling prizes, Herzog & de Meuron are members of a small group of architects who can afford to pick and choose the best projects, and this show throws light on the sheer diversity and variety of their work. The practice, with 182 employees from 27 nations, is currently working on 34 projects across the world. "Architecture is an art, but it is not art,' says Jacques Herzog, "although they are clearly related. We live in a time where traditions are gone, traditions which told us where things should go. Nowadays people find a lot of architecture ugly — there's no method for how to look at it. But it has also opened doors and become a field for talented people."

Herzog & de Meuron, "No. 250. An Exhibition”: 8 May- 12 Sept, Schaulager, Basel (+41 61 835 32 32, www.schaulager.org)