Jacques Herzog. Born in Basel in 1950, Jacques Herzog studied at the ETH of Zürich and is the principal, along with Pierre de Meuron, of the partnership Herzog & de Meuron, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 2001, the RIBA Gold Medal in 2006, and the Praemium Imperiale in 2007, among other awards. Set up in 1978, the Swiss firm now has offices in several countries and a team of almost 300 people.

The work of the studio earned recognition early on with the Blue House in Oberwil (1980), the storage building for Ricola in Laufen (1987), and the Stone House in Tavole (1988), although the Tate Modern in London (2000) would be its key to international consolidation. Also outstanding are the Prada Aoyama building in Tokyo, the Dominus Winery in California, museums like the De Young in San Francisco and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and sport venues like the Allianz Arena in Munich and the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, designed in collaboration with the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. In Spain the partners have carried out the Forum Building in Barcelona, the CaixaForum center in Madrid, and the TEA in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and they are currently constructing the new BBVA headquarters in Madrid.