Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus at M+

When M+ opened on the West Kowloon harbourfront in 2021, the building itself was the headline — a vast, inverted "T" of concrete and ceramic tile by the Swiss architects who have reshaped skylines from London to Beijing. This autumn, those architects get their own show. Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus opens in the M+ Focus Gallery in September 2026, turning the lens on the practice that designed the very museum you are standing in.

What is 'Herzog & de Meuron: In Focus'?

It is a focused display that celebrates a major second donation to the M+ Collections from Herzog & de Meuron, the firm that designed M+. According to M+, the show also marks the museum's fifth anniversary in November 2026 — a neat piece of timing, since the building and its architects are, in a sense, the subject.

This is a Focus Gallery presentation, not a ticketed blockbuster. That means it is smaller and drawn from the collection, closer in spirit to the single-room shows we covered in our guide to Janet Cardiff at M+ than to a sprawling survey. The pay-off is intimacy: a chance to stand nose-to-glass with the working material of one of the world's most influential studios.

Who are Herzog & de Meuron?

Herzog & de Meuron is a Swiss architecture practice founded in Basel in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The pair won the Pritzker Prize — architecture's highest honour — in 2001, and their buildings read like a list of modern landmarks: London's Tate Modern, Munich's Allianz Arena and Beijing's National Stadium, the "Bird's Nest" of the 2008 Olympics.

Hong Kong knows their work well. The firm designed M+ and, with a very different, brick-and-granite touch, the new buildings woven into the heritage compound at Tai Kwun (大館) in Central. Seeing the two projects side by side in one display is the quiet thrill here: the same studio, one job on a reclaimed harbourfront, the other stitched into a 19th-century police station.

What will you see at M+?

Expect the raw ingredients of architecture rather than finished glamour shots. M+ says the display features models, drawings and material samples spanning urban-planning schemes as well as built and unbuilt works in China. The named projects are the ones Hongkongers will recognise instantly: M+ (2013–2020), Tai Kwun (2006–2018) and the National Stadium in Beijing (2002–2008).

The staging is part of the story. The works sit inside the KABINETT, a wooden vitrine system the firm developed for its own foundation in Basel — so the display case is, itself, a Herzog & de Meuron design. It is a compact show that rewards slow looking; give it 20–30 minutes, and pair it with the wider building. For the full picture, our round-up of M+ exhibitions and our guide to the best museums in Hong Kong map out the rest of a culture day in West Kowloon.

When does it open? Dates & admission

M+ gives the opening as September 2026 and has not published a closing date, so treat the run as open-ended for now and confirm before travelling. The definitive details sit on the official M+ exhibition page.

It is a good autumn to cross the harbour. The same season brings a new M+ Facade commission, Winds of Hong Kong by Refik Anadol, and the big West Gallery show Myths, Monsters, and Manga opens in October 2026 — so one trip can cover several shows at once.

How do you get to M+?

M+ sits on the harbourfront in the West Kowloon Cultural District, and the train is the easy way in. Take the MTR to Kowloon Station (Exit C1 or D1) or Austin Station (Exit B4 or B5), then walk through the district to the waterfront — roughly 10 to 15 minutes. The Airport Express also stops at Kowloon Station, which makes M+ an easy first or last stop on a trip.

Once you are there, the district rewards a wander: the Art Park, the harbour promenade and the Hong Kong Palace Museum are all a short stroll apart. If you are new to the city, our guide to Hong Kong's best art galleries lines up where to head next.

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