Manuel Herz Architekten

Manuel Herz Architects is an office for architecture and urban planning, based in Basel, Switzerland. Amongst the recently constructed buildings is the Synagogue of Mainz, the housing project 'Ballet Mécanique' in Zürich or a social housing project 'Sur ses Épaules' in Lyon. Current projects include a maternity and paediatric hospital in Tambacounda, Senegal and a large mixed use urban regeneration project in Cologne. The projects have received several prizes such as the German Facade Prize 2011, the Cologne Architecture Prize 2003, the German Architecture Prize for Concrete in 2004 and a nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Prize for European Architecture, 2011.

Manuel Herz studied at the RWTH Aachen, and the Architectural Association in London. After teaching at the Bartlett School of Architecture, London, the Berlage Institute, Rotterdam and Harvard Graduate School of Design he was head of the teaching and research at ETH Studio Basel - Institute of the Contemporary City. After a visiting professorship at the ETH Zürich 2012-2014, he has been appointed professor of architecural and urban design at the University of Basel. Besides his work as a practicing architect he researches and publishes on the relationship between architecture and nation building, and on refugee camps. His books include 'From Camp to City - The Refugee Camps of the Western Sahara' (Lars Müller Publishers) and 'African Modernism - Architecture of Independence' (Park Books Publishers).

Our architecture is characterised by high design standards, an intensive investigation into content and use, the questioning of conventions, and an awareness of the social responsibilities of architecture. We try to combine the practice of architecture with material investigations and a dimension of research. Our office is active in a wide range of fields and architectural typologies, from housing, via cultural and institutional buildings to urban design, as well as doing furniture, and actively participating in exhibitions. We practice internationally, with building and design projects in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US.