Herzog & de Meuron Win M+ Competition

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, teamed with London's TFP Farrells, have won a design competition for M+, the Museum of Visual Culture in Hong Kong. The project, expected for completion in 2017, will be a major element in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Their design resembles an inverted "T", with the horizontal section serving galleries and the vertical piece above housing offices; the latter is faced with LEDs to become a billboard overlooking Victoria Harbor.

Jacques Herzog describes the form as such: "For art to enter into the life of a city like Hong Kong it has to come from below, from its own foundations. Our M+ Project does exactly that, by literally emerging from the city's underground."

Herzog & de Meuron beat out five shortlisted firms, all big names: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Shigeru Ban Architects (with Thomas Chow Architects), SNØHETTA, Toyo Ito & Associates (with Benoy Limited).