Design Like Herzog & de Meuron
Ordinary materials, extraordinary hands.
That is their entire trick.
Learn material alchemy from the duo who reinvent themselves with every project. Discover how surface, texture, and transformation create buildings the world cannot stop photographing.
Material surfaces will become arguments you can win.
- Transform humble materials — making stone, copper, and glass astonish people who thought they knew them.
- Reinvent every project — refusing to settle into a comfortable signature style on principle.
- Master the building skin — treating the facade as the concept itself, never mere decoration.
- Collaborate with artists — borrowing fresh eyes and instincts from far beyond architecture.
- Surprise sophisticated clients — who believe they have already seen everything worth seeing.
- Elevate the ordinary — finding wonder in the materials everyone else walks past daily.
Built by one of the most-read architecture platforms in the world.
RTF | Rethinking The Future has spent over a decade publishing the ideas, projects and voices shaping architecture — and now brings that depth to learning. Every course is researched, written and produced by the RTF team.
Reinvention is a discipline. Study its masters.
A clear path. Seven steps.
Everything unlocks instantly with membership · learn at your own pace
If you see yourself here, start today.
A few hours from now, you could already see differently.
My facades were elevations to decorate at the end. The Herzog and de Meuron material research method made the surface a project in itself. I now prototype cladding concepts before the plan is even settled.
Simple by design.
Watch
Short, focused video lessons — each one a single idea, clearly explained.
Apply
End every lesson with a small task that pushes your real project forward.
Transform
Watch your work develop a point of view that is unmistakably yours.
Answered simply.
Herzog & de Meuron reinvent themselves constantly — what's the consistent lesson?
Their method: obsessive material research, collaboration with artists, and treating the building envelope as a site of invention. The method is stable even when the results look wildly different.
Will this expand how I think about facades and materials?
That's the core promise. You'll learn to interrogate materials for hidden potential instead of specifying from catalogs.
Is their approach viable outside big-budget cultural projects?
Yes. Material intelligence scales down; some of their most influential moves are inexpensive ideas executed with precision.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Every course starts from where you are and builds up step by step, in plain language.
Is this software training?
No — software changes yearly. The thinking you learn here lasts a career.
How does it work?
Short video lessons with a small practice task after each. Any device, your pace.
What does membership include?
One membership unlocks every course on RTF Academy — all 450+, nothing sold separately. And you stay in control: cancel anytime in one click, and you will never be charged again.
Ready to see your work change?
Your next project could be the one that feels truly yours.
- 7 Sections
- 25 Lessons
- 4 Hours
- Introduction to Herzog & de Meuron3
- Principles of Design Philosophy4
- Materials, Facades & Spatial Experience4
- Iconic Projects & Design Lessons4
- Urbanism, Culture & Public Experience3
- Representation & Visualization3
- Applying the Herzog & de Meuron Approach4
Reviews
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My facades were elevations to decorate at the end. The Herzog and de Meuron material research method made the surface a project in itself. I now prototype cladding concepts before the plan is even settled.
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