A focus on the works of architect, Zaha Hadid
Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid produced wildly futuristic designs that pushed back the boundaries of what was impossible in architecture
Zaha Hadid needs no real introduction. One of the world’s most lauded architects, she was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the Stirling Prize, and the Royal Gold Medal, and by the time of her death in 2016 had become a household name.
Born in Baghdad in 1950, Hadid didn’t believe in straight lines or rectangular forms. She created wildly futuristic designs that grabbed your attention, held it, and forced you to re-evaluate the very nature of architecture.
“Zaha liberated herself and architecture from regular geometry and pre-established orders in architectural design,” says Nabyl Chenaf, dean of the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University in Dubai. “Pre-established orders that were mainly dictated by technology or the absence of technology capable of producing unconventional form.
“Some called her the ‘queen of the curve’, the more technical ones would qualify her design as deconstructivist, and others would simply hesitate between sculpture and architecture. But all agree that she managed to move design out of its comfort zone, pushing creativity further and further every time she designed a new building.”
Hadid’s ambition was to create fluid space. An ambition that increasingly relied on computers and algorithms to free her from the constraints of gravity. She also sought to reinterpret the spaces we occupy. “Architecture does not follow fashion, political or economic cycles – it follows the inherent logic of cycles of innovation generated by so-cial and technological developments – and buildings must evolve with new patterns of life to meet the needs of its users,” Hadid told Forbes in 2015.
“What is new in our generation are the much greater levels of social complexity and connectivity. With over 50 per cent of the world’s growing population now living in cities, contemporary urbanism and architecture must move beyond the outdated 20th century architecture of square blocks and repetition towards architecture for the 21st century that manages the increasing complexities, dynamism and densities of our lives today.
“Consequently, my work is operating with concepts, logic and methods that examine and organise the complexities of our lives today. People ask, ‘why are there no 90 degrees in your work?’ This is because life is not made in a grid. If you think of a natural landscape, it’s not even and regular – but people go to these places and think it’s very natural, very relaxing. I think that one can do that in architecture.”
Not that Hadid didn’t do angular work. On the contrary, many of her most famous designs are defined by the use of sharp angles. The heavy volumetric massing of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati; the polygonal block of the WU University Library in Vienna; or the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which Hadid viewed as “an immersive urban environment for the exchange of ideas.” All helped to transform our idea of the future by utilising visionary spatial concepts.
Central to much of her work was a fascination with geometry; an aspect of her creative career that drew greatly from her Arab heritage. “I realised there was a connection with the logic of math to architecture and the abstraction of Arabic calligraphy,” she told Blueprint. “Although there are no direct formal references to my cultural roots in the designs, it is this mathematics of the Arab world that I am fascinated by, the mix of logic and abstract. Geometry and mathematics have a tremendous connection to architecture, even more now with the advanced computer scripts used in many of our designs. This is related to my Arab identity in terms of algebra, geometry mathematics and calligraphy. The fluidity and calligraphy you see in my architecture is an evolution
Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid produced wildly futuristic designs that pushed back the boundaries of what was possible in architecture
of this research.” Hence the long, curving lines that define much of her work. Curves such as those found on the London Aquatics Centre, on the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, or in the sinusoidal waveform of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Bridge.
Hadid once described her upbringing as secular and modern; one of “enlightened open-mindedness and selfless support.” She studied mathematics at the American University in Beirut, attended the Architectural Association in London from 1972, and established her own firm, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), in 1979. In 1983 she gained her first taste of international recognition, winning a design competition for The Peak in Hong Kong. The design was never realised, and neither were most of her radical designs during the first two decades of her company’s existence.
As such, she became known as a ‘paper architect’, one who found it difficult to get anything built thanks to the avant-garde nature of her ideas. The most famous being the Cardiff Bay Opera House in 1994. Although ZHA won an international competition to design the opera house, the government refused to pay for the project in the face of opposition from local politicians. It was a move that greatly angered Hadid.
It’s one of the reasons why Rem Koolhaas, a longstanding friend and a founding partner of Dutch architectural firm OMA, believes Hadid was misunderstood. Was she?
“Definitely,” replies Chenaf. “At the beginning of her career she won several competitions, but some of those winning projects were never built. But with time, more and more decisionmakers started rallying behind her thoughts and had actually commissioned her to build in their cities.”
She had other detractors, too. Those who viewed her as a ‘diva’ or a troublemaker. Someone who refused to dilute her creativity or meet people half way. “There was very little room for compromise in her design,” admits Chenaf. “She said once, ‘I use the au-to industry to make my furniture’, and while I was listening to her I was tempted to tell her that we are not alone in this world and that we are part of an industry. Zaha knew that regular furniture would not fit her design.”
And yet she was named one of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ by Time magazine in 2010 and her legacy lives on, not only in the DNA of ZHA, but in the buildings that she created.
“I think that Zaha was an inspiration for architects in general and women in particular,” says Chenaf. “Because she pushed back the boundaries of the impossible by challenging everything around her, including form, function, gravity and, to a certain extent, a male-dominated profession.”
Forbes in 2015.
“What is new in our generation are the much greater levels of social complexity and connectivity. With over 50 per cent of the world’s growing population now living in cities, contemporary urbanism and architecture must move beyond the outdated 20th century architecture of square blocks and repetition towards architecture for the 21st century that manages the increasing complexities, dynamism and densities of our lives today.
“Consequently, my work is operating with concepts, logic and methods that examine and organise the complexities of our lives today. People ask, ‘why are there no 90 degrees in your work?’ This is because life is not made in a grid. If you think of a natural landscape, it’s not even and regular – but people go to these places and think it’s very natural, very relaxing. I think that one can do that in architecture.”
Not that Hadid didn’t do angular work. On the contrary, many of her most famous designs are defined by the use of sharp angles. The heavy volumetric massing of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati; the polygonal block of the WU University Library in Vienna; or the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which Hadid viewed as “an immersive urban environment for the exchange of ideas.” All helped to transform our idea of the future by utilising visionary spatial concepts.
Central to much of her work was a fascination with geometry; an aspect of her creative career that drew greatly from her Arab heritage. “I realised there was a connection with the logic of math to architecture and the abstraction of Arabic calligraphy,” she told Blueprint. “Although there are no direct formal references to my cultural roots in the designs, it is this mathematics of the Arab world that I am fascinated by, the mix of logic and abstract. Geometry and mathematics have a tremendous connection to architecture, even more now with the advanced computer scripts used in many of our designs. This is related to my Arab identity in terms of algebra, geometry mathematics and calligraphy. The fluidity and calligraphy you see in my architecture is an evolution of this research.”
Hence the long, curving lines that define much of her work. Curves such as those found on the London Aquatics Centre, on the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, or in the sinusoidal waveform of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Bridge.
Hadid once described her upbringing as secular and modern; one of “enlightened open-mindedness and selfless support.” She studied mathematics at the American University in Beirut, attended the Architectural Association in London from 1972, and established her own firm, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), in 1979. In 1983 she gained her first taste of international recognition, winning a design competition for The Peak in Hong Kong. The design was never realised, and neither were most of her radical designs during the first two decades of her company’s existence.
As such, she became known as a ‘paper architect’, one who found it difficult to get anything built thanks to the avant-garde nature of her ideas. The most famous being the Cardiff Bay Opera House in 1994. Although ZHA won an international competition to design the opera house, the government refused to pay for the project in the face of opposition from local politicians. It was a move that greatly angered Hadid.
It’s one of the reasons why Rem Koolhaas, a longstanding friend and a founding partner of Dutch architectural firm OMA, believes Hadid was misunderstood. Was she?
“Definitely,” replies Chenaf. “At the beginning of her career she won several competitions, but some of those winning projects were never built. But with time, more and more decisionmakers started rallying behind her thoughts and had actually commissioned her to build in their cities.”
She had other detractors, too. Those who viewed her as a ‘diva’ or a troublemaker. Someone who refused to dilute her creativity or meet people half way. “There was very little room for compromise in her design,” admits Chenaf. “She said once, ‘I use the au-to industry to make my furniture’, and while I was listening to her I was tempted to tell her that we are not alone in this world and that we are part of an industry. Zaha knew that regular furniture would not fit her design.”
And yet she was named one of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ by Time magazine in 2010 and her legacy lives on, not only in the DNA of ZHA, but in the buildings that she created.
“I think that Zaha was an inspiration for architects in general and women in particular,” says Chenaf. “Because she pushed back the boundaries of the impossible by challenging everything around her, including form, function, gravity and, to a certain extent, a male-dominated profession.”