Herzog & de Meuron is going through what might be described as a wilfully eccentric phase in its work. The buildings completing around now are incredibly difficult to classify or to place in any context other than as steps on an artistic journey that has no equal or equivalent in contemporary architecture, but will increasingly polarise critics and fans alike.
The defining event at this year’s Milan Design Week was not a product launch or a party, but a takeover announcement. Cappellini – the most aristocratic of Italy’s small, family-run furniture houses – has been rescued from bankruptcy by a conglomerate and its figurehead, the legendary Giulio Cappellini, forced to surrender day-to-day management to the suits.
Already dubbed the geek palace by Wired magazine, Frank Gehry’s research building for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened in May.