Hans Ruedi "H.R." Giger (5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss painter, sculptor, designer and cinematographic effects specialist.
With his famous book, Necronomicon, published in 1977, he contributed to the visual realization of Ridley Scott’s film Alien.
Thanks to this, he earned in the 1980 the Oscar for the Best Achievement in Visual Effects, for his designs of the film's title character, including all the stages of its lifecycle, plus the film’s extraterrestrial environments.
Giger's other well-known film work includes his designs for Poltergeist II, Alien3 and Species and other minor works. Moreover he collaborated with different music artists for album’s covers and visual merchandising.
The official and permanent Museum dedicated to this incredible Artist is located in the medieval Château St. Germain in the 400 year old historic, walled city of Gruyères, Switzerland. It was inaugurated on June 20, 1998, it hosts the largest and most impressive collection of the artist's paintings and sculptures, furniture and film designs, dating from the early 1960's till the present day.
Close to the Museum we find the fantastic Giger Bar, completed in 2003.
The architecture and interior design were completely supervised by the artist, in the style of his acclaimed biomechanical designs.