http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/36659/the-year-of-zaha/
Architizer News
Zaha Hadid at the opening of the Sterling Prize-Winning Maxxi in Rome, last year
Simply put, it was very much Zaha Hadid’s year, one which saw the realization of some of her most important projects. It also proved vindicating, with the completion and opening of the Guangzhou Opera House after the architect’s much publicized canceled-Cardiff Bay Opera House from 1995 and the long overdue recognition from her adopted homeland, with the openings of much hailed works such as the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, and the Olympic Aquatics Center in London. The year was also a turning point for Hadid’s work and firm, when the last of Zaha’s pre-digital projects, like last year’s MAXXI in Rome and the Evelyn Grace Academy, fully gave way to all-digital projects, such as the Aquatics Center, Guangzhou, and Riverside.
Emerging from a formalist generation weighed down by murky theory bastardized from Continental philosophy and coming of age in another under the influence of a resurgent Gauloises-smoking brand of nihilism, Zaha now commands a cultural influence, both populist in reach and aspirational in message, and an overwhelmingly large practice (with some 300 staff members from 55 countries) that are the envy of all ego-damaged architects. Nevermind that the buildings are exorbitantly expensive to build (poorly built, at that) and that all those sweeping, meaningless forms were ostensibly designed for the inevitable coffee table monograph rather than for real space. It’s Zaha’s world, and we’re just living in it. Here are the top ten Zaha posts of the year, plus a recent interview below.
Photo: Luke Hayes
1) Winning the Sterling Prize
“Hadid’s victory illustrates the commitment of the Royal Institute of British Architects to the kind of no-expense-spared capital-A architecture that’s been called into question this year by the country’s architecture students. Some critics argue that a victory for the Velodrome — a model for a more thoughtful, sustainable practice — would have been more appropriate. From political standpoint, the Evelyn Grace Academy is the exception to the rule for British educational facilities, with many nearby institutions closing down due to budget cuts. . . . Presumably, many were hoping that this year RIBA would take a stand against the kind of “design-for-design’s sake” excessivity of the early 00s. Maybe next year!”
2) 2012 London Olympic Games Aquatic Center Opens
Photos: hufton + crow
“Zaha Hadid Architects have completed work on the massive aquatic center that will be home base for all water events in the 2012 games in London. Most of the images show the double-curved surface that covers the main pool, imprinted with nodes of spotlights. The two flanking wings are roofed in a sculptural concrete pattern not unlike the formwork in Hadid’s Phaeno Science Center. The technique used in that building — self-compacting concrete — was still developing back in 2006, and much of the facade had to be re-poured soon after completion due to cracking. We’re not sure they used SCC in the Aquatic Center, but hopefully re-pouring won’t be necessary.”
Photo: Iwan Baan
3) Guangzhou Opera House Opens
Photo: Iwan Baan
“Zaha Hadid’s riverfront opera house “sings” in her architectural language: folds, tessellation, ripples, and diamonds abound. But somehow, if reports are to be believed, the formalism makes sense here: most of the press coverage of the opening compare the two main volumes to “water-smoothed pebbles,” citing geological and topographic context as a central player in design development.”
Photos: Zaha Hadid Architects
4) Riverside Museum of Tranport Opens in Glasgow
“At first glance, the Riverside Museum may seem like an understatement for Hadid. It’s one giant moment frame, a nod to the harborside warehouse. Unfortunately, a glimpse at the roof (not an easy-to-come-by view) indicates that the gross excesses of the early 2000s lurk just out of view. Think of the museum like a crackhead that claims to be rehabilitated, but is in reality just a pro hiding his habit. The structure appears as a big metal shed, but that’s because Hadid has hidden the extreme expense and extraneous ornamental flourishes on the roof.”
Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects
5) Pierres Vivres Complex Nearing Completion
“Hadid began designing Pierres Vives, which translates to “living stones,” nearly a decade ago, yet her vision has been maintained. In her designs, she placed the giant ship of the building at the center of an eponymous new urban district. The 28, 500-square-meter stone monolith houses various regional departments and facilities, including archives, a library, a sports center, and offices.”
Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects
6) “The Capital of Zaha Country”
“The villa is concrete, steel, and glass structure comprised of two seemingly disparate volumes: the first, a ground condition that follows the contours of the site’s topography, and the second, a stout tower rising from this fluid base. . . . The striations of the natural topography are articulated in a layered space, where the ground volume consists of three tiered levels.”
Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects
7) Roca London Gallery Opens
“Zaha’s most recent completed project in London, the Roca London Gallery, it seemed as if Zaha’s signature curving forms had truly found their calling. Inspired by the elemental power of water, Hadid and her team have carved out another fiercely dynamic space for a flagship store showcasing high-end bathroom products.”
Image: Zaha Hadid Architects
8) Designs for Zaha’s Personal Residence Are Approved
“The La Jolla planning commission finally gave the go-ahead for Zaha Hadid Architects and San Diego-based firm Public to commence construction of the 12,700 square-foot-house. Designed in 2003, the project has been in deadlock with the community planning association which sought to bar its realization citing zoning and ordinance violations. . . . Hadid’s website describes the house as an “introverted sculptural structure” characterized by sweeping curves and a gestural roofline, which marks the divide between the interior and exterior.”
Image: Zaha Hadid Architects
9) First Images of Zaha’s Bespoke Miami Beach Garage
“New renderings for Zaha Hadid’s proposed $12.5 million car park at Collins Park in Miami Beach have been released. The design is a 5-storey tall body of shifting curvilinear plates that from some angles appears as the resultant formal scenario wherein an earthquake has breached the taut envelope of FLW’s Guggenheim rotunda and set the constituent floors askew. Hadid’s garage, which lies in proximity of Frank Gehry’s New World Symphony complex, follows the formula of its successful predecessors, Herzog & de Meuron’s car park/event venue at 1111 Lincoln Road and Enrique Norten‘s recently completed garage at 420 Lincoln Road, which combines branded form making with hybrid programs including retail space for shops and nightclubs.”
Image: Zaha Hadid Architects
10) Zaha Plans (Another) Beijing Commercial Complex
“Despite concerns about China’s inflated real estate market, building continues unabated. Today Zaha Hadid unveiled images of the half-million-square-feet Wangjing Soho complex, which will sit near Foster + Partners new Beijing Airport. The architecture seems to be standard Hadid fare (mountainous blobs, interior looks like the set of The Fast and the Furious 4).”
