Hans Günter Merz, better known as HG Merz (born 1947 in Tailfingen) is a German

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and museum designer. He is the founder and director of ''hg merz architekten museumsgestalter'', an architecture office that specializes in museum and exhibition design and in refurbishing

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

s. The office has branches in Stuttgart and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. From 1993 to 2007, HG Merz was professor for exhibition design at the department of Visual Communication at the University of Applied Sciences in Pforzheim. From 2008 until 2014, he was professor for experimental design at the department of Architecture at

Technische Universität Darmstadt The Technische Universität Darmstadt (official English name Technical University of Darmstadt, sometimes also referred to as Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly known as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt ...

. In 2014, he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

from TU Darmstadt. HG Merz was president of the University Council of

Bauhaus University Weimar The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany, and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910. In 1919 the sc ...

from 2013 to 2017.

Awards (selection)

* 2003 German Architecture Award * 2006 Critics Choice Award Germany * 2011

German Design Award The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the official design award for Germany presented by the German Ministry for Economics and Technology. The award was given for the first time ...

, Silver * 2011 red dot communication design award * 2012 Mies van der Rohe Prize, Nomination * 2013 Focus Open Gold * 2013 red dot communication design award

Projects (selection)

Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen The Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen is a museum in Friedrichshafen in Germany, the birthplace of the Zeppelin airship. The museum houses the largest collection on airship travel in the world, and chronicles the history of the Zeppelin airship ...

(1993–1996) *

Alte Nationalgalerie The Alte Nationalgalerie ( ''Old National Gallery'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. The gallery was built from 1862 to 1876 by the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia according to pl ...

Berlin (1993–2001) * Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen Memorial (1998–2005) *

Mercedes-Benz Museum The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of the Me ...

Stuttgart (1999–2006) * European School of Management and Technology, transformation of the former

State Council of East Germany The State Council of East Germany (German: ''Staatsrat der DDR'') was the collective head of state of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1960 to 1990. Origins When the German Democratic Republic was founded in October 1949, its ...

, Berlin (2003–2006) *

Bundeswehr Military History Museum The Bundeswehr Military History Museum (german: Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr (MHMBw)) is the military museum of the German Armed Forces, the ''Bundeswehr'', and one of the major military history museums in Germany. It is located in ...

Dresden (2003–2010) * Rebuilding and refurbishment of

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the la ...

(2000– ca. 2015) *

Porsche Museum The Porsche Museum is an automobile museum in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart, Germany on the site of carmaker Porsche. History The original Porsche museum opened in 1976 in a side-road near the Porsche factory. It was a relatively ...

Stuttgart (2005–2008) * Conversion of a former

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state author ...

prison into

Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial (german: Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen) is a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen, part of the former borough of H ...

, Berlin (2008–2012) * Extension and general refurbishment of

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

(2009–2015) * new permanent exhibition at Ruhr Museum at

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Zeche Zollverein, Essen (2005–2010) * Tirol Panorama Innsbruck (2007–2011) * Kunstkammer of Museum of Art History Vienna (2010–2013) * Richard-Wagner-Museum, Bayreuth (2011–2015) * Maison des Fondateurs

Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring ...

, together with Bjarke Ingels Group (2014- )Announcement on dezeen
/ref> * Rilke and Russia, traveling exhibition for German Literature Archive, 2016–2018

Links

* http://www.hgmerz.com * http://www.germanarchitects.com

Endnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merz, HG 20th-century German architects 1947 births Living people People from Böblingen (district) Technische Universität Darmstadt faculty Bauhaus University, Weimar alumni