zaha hadid – Page 2 – DesignApplause

didier faustino goes pow! again for the architectural association school of architecture.

Nov 4, 2015

images / didier faustino 2015 © adagp courtesy de l’artiste

Though billed as the ‘second edition’ of This is not a Love Song, it’s really the third sighting. This is however the second sighting and newest in Bedford Square. Designed by artist and architect Didier Faustino, upon invitation from the AA – Architectural Association in London, the sculpture serves as a beacon for Faustino’s presentation Undomesticated Places, an exhibition presented as two projects, one inside the AA gallery and one in the public space of Bedford Square. The two approaches underscore performative practice in the closely-linked fields of contemporary art and architecture, representative of Didier Faustino’s obsession with the location of the body in private and public space.

The first part of the exhibition, inside the building, contains the video Exploring Dead Buildings 2.0 which recalls the performance realized on the occasion of the 12th Havana Biennial in 2015. An explorer with a video device fixed on his metallic armor constructs a sensitive archaeology of the School of Ballet; a building designed by Vittorio Garatti in the early 1960s.

Outside, in Bedford Square, This is not a Love Song (the first opus of the installation paid a pop tribute to André Bloc’s interior sculptures, created in Meudon, France in 2014) has been built. This monochromatic performance-architecture platform invites events and performances, as well as providing a “speakers’ corner” for public use.

[ practical information ]
event > undomesticated places
venue> architectural association school of architecture | 36 bedford square london
date> 10 october > 12 december 2015

above> the second sighting, though the first in bedford square introduced in september 2015 / below> the inaugural sighting in meudon, 2014.

Just wondering if the missing architectural statement in the first should have somehow been retained in the second and third?

[ didier faustino ] was born in 1968 and lives and works between Paris and Lisbon.

Didier Faustino’s work reciprocally summons up art from architecture and architecture from art, indistinctly using genres in a way that summarizes an ethical and political attitude about the conditions for constructing a place in the socio-cultural fabric of the city. Spaces, buildings and objects show themselves to be platforms for the intersection of the individual body and the collective body in their use. Each project represents a concept that subverts the social context; in which seeing is experimenting beyond submission to the dichotomy of the rules that normally mark out public space and private space. The body is recentred on the basis of the social implications of the space, alerting people to the dangers of subjecting it to an ambiguity of representation that may contribute towards their forgetting its identity.

The [ architectural association school of architecture ] (AA) is the world’s oldest and most influential architecture school. Since 1847 the AA has pioneered architectural education alongside promoting and advancing the profession and the culture of the discipline; at the AA architecture is treated as a unique form of human enquiry. The AA’s students and teachers have gone on to become worldwide leaders of architecture. Through its unique unit-based system of teaching and its intensively collaborative team-based approach to learning, the school brings together disconnected worlds, fresh ideas and inspiring insights.

Alumni include Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers, Will Alsop, Cedric Price and many others.

zaha hadid announced as 2016 royal gold medal winner.

Sep 27, 2015

above> zaha hadid | photo steve double

British architect Zaha Hadid is the first woman to earn in her own right the Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The medal, approved by the Queen and awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), has been the harborage of men since 1848, although women have shared the prize with others on a handful of occasions. Previous winners include IM Pei (2010), Frank Gehry (2000), Norman Foster (1983), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1959), Le Corbusier (1953), Eliel Saarinen (1950), Frank Lloyd Wright (1941) and George Gilbert Scott (1859)

Zaha Hadid is internationally known for her built, theoretical and academic work. Each of her dynamic and innovative projects builds on over thirty years of revolutionary experimentation and research in the fields of architecture, design and urbanism.

RIBA President and chair of the selection committee, Jane Duncan, said: “Zaha Hadid is a formidable and globally-influential force in architecture. Highly experimental, rigorous and exacting, her work from buildings to furniture, footwear and cars, is quite rightly revered and desired by brands and people all around the world. I am delighted Zaha will be awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 2016 and can’t wait to see what she and her practice will do next.”

Zaha Hadid said: “I am very proud to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal, in particular, to be the first woman to receive the honour in her own right. I would like to thank Peter Cook, Louisa Hutton and David Chipperfield for the nomination and Jane Duncan and the Honours Committee for their support. We now see more established female architects all the time. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes the challenges are immense. There has been tremendous change over recent years and we will continue this progress. This recognition is an honour for me and my practice, but equally, for all our clients. It is always exciting to collaborate with those who have great civic pride and vision. Part of architecture’s job is to make people feel good in the spaces where we live, go to school or where we work – so we must be committed to raising standards. Housing, schools and other vital public buildings have always been based on the concept of minimal existence – that shouldn’t be the case today. Architects now have the skills and tools to address these critical issues.”

serpentine sackler gallery | photo luke hayes

Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid started her architectural journey in 1972 studying at the progressive Architectural Association in London. She joined her former professors, Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, where she became a partner in 1977. By 1979 she had established her own practice in London – Zaha Hadid Architects – garnering a reputation across the world for her trail-blazing theoretical works including The Peak in Hong Kong (1983), the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin (1986) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994).

Working with office partner Patrik Schumacher, Hadid’s interest is in the interface between architecture, landscape, and geology; which her practice integrates with the use of cutting-edge technologies – the result is often unexpected and dynamic architectural forms.

Hadid’s first major built commission, one that catapulted her rise, was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany (1993); subsequent notable projects including the MAXXI: Italian National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome (2009), the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games (2011) and the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku (2013) illustrate her quest for complex, fluid space. Buildings such as the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003) and the Guangzhou Opera House in China (2010) have also been hailed as architecture that transforms our ideas of the future with new spatial concepts and dynamic, visionary forms.

pierresvives | montpllier | photo helene binet

In 2004 Zaha Hadid became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She has twice won the UK’s most prestigious architecture award, the RIBA Stirling Prize: in 2010 for the MAXXI Museum in Rome, a building for the staging of 21st Century art, the distillation of years of experimentation, a mature piece of architecture conveying a calmness that belies the complexities of its form and organisation; and the Evelyn Grace Academy, a unique design, expertly inserted into an extremely tight site, that shows the students, staff and local residents they are valued and celebrates the school’s specialism throughout its fabric, with views of student participation at every turn.

Zaha Hadid’s other awards include the Republic of France’s Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Japan’s Praemium Imperiale and in 2012, Zaha Hadid was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture.

Zaha has held various adademic roles including the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture; guest professorships at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg; the Knolton School of Architecture, Ohio and the Masters Studio at Columbia University, New York; the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut and the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

The Royal Medal comes at a good time for Hadid. In July 2015, her proposed National Stadium for the 2020 Games in Tokyo was renounced by the Japanese government at the 11 1/2 hour. We’re also reminded of a similar fate for the Cardiff Bay Opera House, Cardiff, Wales, 1995. Of interested she won both design competitions for these projects. However, virtue was rewarded in 2010. Using the designs for the Cardiff Bay Opera House on the Guangzhou Opera House, the opera house is now credited with transforming a Chinese city with a population more than four times the size of Wales into a cultural capital. [ zha ]

video presentation & report – new national stadium tokyo. zaha hadid architects.

Aug 26, 2015

In November of 2012 Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is selected from 46 submissions by the jury of architects and experts as the winner of the international completion for a New National Stadium for Japan. The venue is to last the next 50-100 years and that it would host the 2019 Rugby World Cup as its first event, then the Tokyo Olympics-Paralympics if Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Games.

This past July 2015 the National Stadium and ZHA experienced many new announcements, as you might expect, including: The New National Stadium Advisory Committee ministers approving the design and budget of the stadium; Prime Minister Abe announcing his commitment to building the stadium designed by ZHA; The Japanese Government deciding to scrap everything and start over.

The original stadium proposal is both admired and polarizing. The noise generated by architectural notables is worth noting: Tadao Ando, a 1995 Pritzker winner, chairman of the competition selection panel said of the winner: “The entry’s dynamic and futuristic design embodies the messages Japan would like to convey to the rest of the world.” He added: “I believe this stadium will become a shrine for world sport for the next 100 years.”

But there are equally notable detractors, 2013 Pritzker winner Toyo Ito and prominent Japanese architect Arata Isozaki saying it reminded him of a turtle. Another likened the proposal to another kind of animal.

“Why do we need this white elephant?” said Fumihiko Maki, a 1993 Pritzker winner. “Tokyo is not a zoo.”

There was additional noise that the winner of the National Stadium was not from Japan. But the finalists were in fact well-vetted: The Japan Sport Council, owner of the Kasumigaoka National Stadium, selected a total of 11 out of the 46 entries for the international design competition to update and remodel the venue in preparation for Tokyo’s Olympic and Paralympic Bid and the IRB 2019 Rugby World Cup. The 11 finalists were renown offices from Australia (1), France (1), Germany (1), Great britain (2), Japan (4), Netherlands (1), and Turkey (1).

Arguably, a most compelling bad vibe was the estimated 2020 finished product $2 billion price tag, supposedly even after a redesign in 2014 by ZHA.

The Tokyo stadium faces another challenge: It must avoid becoming an economic burden by carving out a life as a sports resource long after closing ceremonies. The most recent example is the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics. On 1 March 2014, the centre was opened to the public. Architect of record: ZHA.

So here we are today in late August 2015, with ZHA submitting a thorough revisiting of the project brief, which correctly asks for an 80,000 seat solution to sit on a tight parcel of urban real estate. The architect affirms the price-tag problem is not the design but the non-competitive bidding process and inflationary economy that is Japan at this point in time.

Admittedly, I had concerns with this concept in this venue at first glance. Will the stadium encroach on the nearby historic Meiji Shrine, built in central Tokyo in the early 20th century to commemorate Emperor Meiji. The arena will occupy part of the shrine’s outer gardens, which preservationists say leaving no breathing space and raising traffic and safety concerns.

above> the original national stadium that hosted the 1964 olympics is the oval in the red plot – seating capacity 55,000. below> the new seating bowl with and w/o roof exoskeleton – seating 80,000.

Let’s consider everyone craving an efficient and smart solution, which in fact may be sitting dead center right in front of them. The concept sketches draw much more attention to the building than what will really be. And the façade where the structure is not only expressed but inhabited. A series of diagonal stairways and elevated walkways are developed into the envelope of the stadium that function as a stadium on event days and other days it’s an extension of the pedestrian landscape of the Gainen area, allowing extended walks and elevated views over Tokyo.

above> a pedestrian landscape of the Gainen area, allowing extended walks and elevated views over Tokyo. below> carving out a life as a destination for many interests, a rock concert for example, long after closing ceremonies.

Hence, the more I understand the proposed solution, understand the considerable change the new speaks to the old, there is much more right than wrong. The proposal is worth another look.

Lest we forget, the brief also asks for a 50-plus-year lifespan at minimum. Who can’t envision the future landscape shift around this building – because of this building. We’ve learned the new and significant speaks to future ambitions.

Official ZHA Statement> [ zha / new national stadium report august 201 ] outline in detail the unique design for the New National Stadium which has been developed over two years to be the most compact and efficient stadium for this very special location in Tokyo. Zaha Hadid Architects welcomes a new contractor bidding process for the New National Stadium to reduce costs and ensure value for money in terms of quality, durability and long-term sustainability.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and our Japanese partners, the New National Stadium contains all the knowledge and expertise gained from the team’s direct experience of other Olympic, World Cup and World Championship stadia. The substantial investment in time, effort and resources already made by the Government and people of Japan into the existing team over the past two years ensures the New National Stadium can be completed in time to welcome the world to Japan in 2019 ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and become a new home for sport for many future generations of Japan’s athletes, sportsmen and women.

[ prologue ]
September 2011> Tokyo submits their bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo are later shortlisted.

November 2012> Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) was selected from 46 submissions by the jury of architects and experts as the winner of the international competition for a New National Stadium for Japan to last the next 50-100 years and that would host the 2019 Rugby World Cup as its first event, then the Tokyo Olympics-Paralympics if Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Games.

September 2013> International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Olympic Games.

June 2014> ZHA submits a redesign responding to new budgetary restraints. The modifications include downsizing (the 80,000 seat capacity remained the same), a lower profile and lighter and sustainable materials.

Spring 2015> The old stadium which hosted the 1964 Olympic Games was demolished. (Surveys of the old stadium had found the original 1958 structure in considerable disrepair. Simply to meet current seismic and safety codes would have required an investment of at 100 billion yen alone. Further investment was also required for improvements to the facilities for athletes, spectator sight-lines and amenities, and to increase capacity from 55,000 to 80,000.)

7 July 2015> The New National Stadium Advisory Committee ministers approves the design and budget of the stadium.

10 July 2015> Prime Minister Abe announced his commitment to building the stadium design by ZHA.

17 July 2015> The Japanese Government decides to go back to the start on the New National Stadium.

25 August 2015> ZHA / New National Stadium Report August 2015 is submitted.

[ new national stadium video presentation ] [ zha / new national stadium report august 201 ]

design miami 2014. preview.

Nov 17, 2014

above> peter marino: design miami/ 2014 design visionary award winner

above> zaha hadid’s site-specific installation at design.05 miami / recent photo of the moore building

ten years ago, a small fair for collectible design named design.05 miami launched concurrently with art basel miami beach. located in the moore building in the miami design district, it offered a selection of fifteen invited exhibitors, with the stated aim of bringing museum-quality galleries together with the best collectors, connoisseurs, and designers from around the world in one of the premier destinations for art and design.

fast forward 10 years. rodman primack, executive director of design miami/ stated, “the fair grew out of the need for a consolidated marketplace that would act as a platform to showcase the range and strength of what was then a fledgling market.” adding, “since then, the collectible design market has really changed in scale; it’s internationalized and diversified, and this is reflected very clearly in the fair. design miami/ has changed the way galleries engage with their audiences. i am excited to see this ecosystem bringing so many distinct viewpoints and aesthetics together.”

above> a rare photo (designapplause can never get him to pose) of muecke with a model of the pavilion concept

[ pavilion commission ]
minneapolis-based designer jonathan muecke has been commissioned to create the pavilion for the tenth anniversary of design miami/.

the design miami/ pavilion commission has become an important feature of the fair. an ephemeral extension of the fair space itself, the pavilion is at once an exhibit and a piece of functional temporary architecture. while the commission is traditionally given to an early career architect or studio, for its tenth anniversary design miami/ has selected a designer whose practice reflects the multifaceted nature of the fair itself.

alexandra cunningham cameron, creative director at design miami/ commented, “for our tenth anniversary, we wanted to pay homage to the type of young designer that design miami/ wishes to champion – one who experiments with materials, form and scale; who is as much a theorist as a maker; and who challenges us to consider how we relate to the world built around us.”

muecke studied architecture at iowa state, interning at the architectural office of herzog & de meuron in basel, switzerland before studying design at the cranbrook academy of art. muecke has evolved a design practice that resists standard divisions between design, art and architecture, instead focusing on refined forms that investigate notions of positive and negative space that relate to humanscale.

centered around a double-layered circular structure with apertures at both poles, muecke’s design miami pavilion (dmp) is designed on a human scale, rejecting monumentality in favor of lightness and variability.

above> in a not so rare photo of peter marino in leather on metal on leather. a leather vest pricked all over with metal studs, leather wrist guards with metal spikes, a leather hat with a metal skull, a strand of leather hanging from his neck which holds some metal knives, leather belt, metal belt buckle, metal knuckles with skulls, leather pants, leather boots. all the leather is always black.

[ new initiatives ]
design miami/ is launching two new forward-looking initiatives this year: the exhibition strand design curio, and the design visionary award.

conceived as contemporary ‘cabinets of curiosity’, the four independently curated design curio booths scattered throughout the fair will take the widest possible view of design practice. they will go beyond the scope of collectibledesign to embrace diverse fields from science and technology, to handcraft,and from unrealized prototypes to esoteric collections.

[ design visionary ]
the inaugural design visionary award recognizes peter marino. with this award, design miami/ recognizes marino for his achievements as an architect, for his knowledge and status as a collector of design, art and the decorative arts, and for the impact he has had as an advisor on contemporary and twentieth century design to his numerous clients.

commenting on the first edition of this award, primack stated, “this award is about recognizing the figures that have really propelled the world of design in the broader sense. peter is a great talent, and is also an amazing patron of others’ talents. his knowledge of furniture, his ability to create collections in design and his work with leading brands to help them understand the importance of bringing design voices into their world have substantially impacted the market and the language of design”.

marino founded his eponymous architecture, planning and design studio in new york in 1978 having trained with i. m. pei and george nelson. early clients included andy warhol, yves saint laurent and pierre bergé, and gianni and marella agnelli.

[ 2014 exhibitors ]
ammann gallery – cologne
antonella villanova – florence
caroline van hoek – brussels
carpenters workshop gallery – london & paris
carwan gallery – beirut
casati gallery -chicago
cristina grajales gallery – new york
demisch danant – new york
edward cella art + architecture – los angeles
erastudio & apartment-gallery – milan
galerie jacques lacoste – paris
galerie kreo – paris
galerie maria wettergren – paris
galerie pascal cuisinier – paris
galerie patrick seguin – paris
galerie vivid – rotterdam
galleria o. – rome
gallery diet – miami
gallery seomi – seoul & los angeles
hostler burrows – new york
jason jacques inc. – new york johnson trading gallery – new york
jousse entreprise – paris
laffanour – galerie downtown – paris
louisa guinness gallery – london
magen h gallery – new york
moderne gallery – philadelphia
nilufar gallery – milan
ornamentum – hudson
pierre marie giraud – brussels
priveekollektie contemporary art + design – heusden aan de maas
r & company – new york
southern guild – cape town
victor hunt design art dealer – brussels
volume gallery – chicago

[ special exhibitions ]
of the 35 galleries at design miami/ 2014 11 are among those that participated in the first year of the fair in 2005. several of these founding galleries present special exhibitions that celebrate the growth of the collectible design market over the past decade. these include a display dedicated to public commissions in france from the 1960s and 70s from demisch danant; an exhibition on the functional, durable furniture created for universities by charlotte perriand, jean prouvé and le corbusier from galerie patrick seguin; a monograph on rick kauffman’s new york art et industrie gallery and the creative crossover surrounding it from magen h gallery, and newly commissioned works debuting at the fair with cristina grajales gallery, galerie kreo, r & company and nilufar.

[ special commissions ]
design miami/ 2014 features a significant number of special commissions, including works in glass, stone and acrylic. ammann//gallery presents the sakala vase by satyendra pakhalé, his first work in blown murano glass; galerie vivid presents commissioned works by finnish-born designer janne kyttanen, which take the designer’s 3d printed aluminum sedona bench as their point of departure; max lamb creates a granite lamp for johnson trading gallery made over six days using stitch drilling, and jeweler ted noten unveils a table – his first foray into furniture – at ornamentum.

[ a bronze age ]
it may have associations with the earliest days of human craft, but bronze is very much the material of the moment at design miami/. from artist jewelry to monumental decorative works, via furniture and lighting, the cast metal is deployed across multiple formats at this year’s fair. casati gallery introduces the work of chicago-based designer steven haulenbeek with a collection of bronze mirrors, furniture, lights and objects all distinguished by the ‘chaotic texture’ produced by casting in ice. carwan gallery debuts furniture pieces combining bronze, onyx, mother of pearl, resins, fine inlaid wood and silver-plated brass by italian architect vincenzo de cotiis. carpenters workshop gallery shows a new collection of iconoclastic architectural-themed bronzes from studio job; and new furniture pieces and jewelry by claude lalanne are exhibited by louisa guinness gallery.

[ cabinets of curiosity ]
spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, design curio/ presents four immersive environments of objects, textures, artifacts and ideas that truly challenge and contextualize familiar design narratives. this first edition, in celebration of the fair’s 10th anniversary, emphasizes surprising installations of scientific research alongside handcraft and creative production. these include oceanic art and design endeavor coral morphologic’s blue room, offering a coral-eye view of miami’s aquatic waterscapes; beijing’s gallery all presenting naihan li’s latest installation from her i am a monument series, recreating beijing’s cityscape to a scale of 1:100 with billowing smog rising amongst buildings reimagined as furniture pieces. koenig & clinton and joe sheftel gallery partner to present a collection of sottsass objects interacting with works by the memphis group in a jewel-box space; patrick parrish gallery invites visitors to experience the vertiginous grid-based exhibition: surfaces on which your setting and sitting will be uncertain, displaying a group of sculptural furniture objects by ro/lu with matching clothing designs by various projects.

event> design miami/ 2014 @designmiami #designmiami
dates> 3 – 7 december 2014
venue> meridian & 19th street miami beach, usa
december 3-4/ 10am-8pm
december 5/ 11am-8pm
december 6/ 12-8pm
december 7/ 12-6pm

carsten höller and álvaro siza at vitra.

Jun 25, 2014

above> tower slide | carsten höller | 2013

The Vitra Campus recently launched two new projects for their campus; The Álvaro-Siza-Promenade and the Vitra Slide Tower by Carsten Höller.

The Vitra Slide Tower by Carsten Höller adds a new structure to the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. With its prominent clock at the top, it is not a building in the classical sense but a viewing tower with a slide – and a work of art that enables a new and unique experience of self and art. The Vitra Slide Tower is 30.7-metre-high. The final solution is noticeably more pragmatic looking than Höller’s body of work and those of other buildings and sculpture on the campus.

‘a slide is a sculptural work with a pragmatic aspect, a sculpture that you can travel inside. however, it would be a mistake to think that you have to use the slide to make sense of it. looking at the work from the outside is a different but equally valid experience, just as one might contemplate the endless column by constantin brancusi from 1938. from an architectural and practical perspective, the slides are one of the building’s means of transporting people, equivalent to the escalators, elevators or stairs. slides deliver people quickly, safely and elegantly to their destinations, they’re inexpensive to construct and energy-efficient. they’re also a device for experiencing an emotional state that is a unique condition somewhere between delight and madness. it was described in the fifties by the french writer roger caillois as ‘a kind of voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’.’ – carsten höller

[ the ongoing development of the vitra campus ] The construction of the Vitra Slide Tower is yet another step in the thirty-year development of the Vitra Campus. The production premises were first opened up to the public with the 1984 sculpture Balancing Tools by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Next came the Vitra Design Museum by Frank Gehry (1989), the Conference Pavilion by Tadao Ando (1993) and the VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron (2010), the Prima sculpture by her Fire House (2013). The Vitra Slide Tower and the new Álvaro-Siza-Promenade further open up the grounds to the public and offer visitors a new experience. At the same time, the tower reinforces the topographical reorientation of the Campus.

1 Factory Buildings, Nicholas Grimshaw, 1981; 2 Balancing Tools Claes Oldenburg – Coosje van Bruggen, 1984; 3 Factory Buildings Nicholas Grimshaw, 1986; 4 Gate, Frank Gehry, 1989; 5 Factory Building, Frank Gehry, 1989; 6 Vitra Design Museum, Frank Gehry, 1989; 7 Conference Pavilion by Tadao Ando, 1993; 8 Fire Station, 1993, Prima, 2013 by Zaha Hadid; 9 Factory Building, Alvaro Siza, 1994; 10 Dome, Richard Fuller. 1978-2000; 11 Petrol Station, Jean Prouvé, 1953-2003; 12 Bus Stop, Jasper Morrison, 2006; 13 VitraHaus, Herzog – de Meuron, 2010; 14 Factory Building, SANAA, 2010; 15 Tower Slide, Carsten Höller, 2014; 15 Álvaro Siza Promenade, Álvero Siza, 2014.

a resting area along the promenade

The new Promenade by Alvaro Siza extends and opens up the concept of “A day at Vitra” with a pilgrimage pathway that now directly connects Zaha Hadid’s Fire Station to Herzog & de Meuron’s Vitra Haus building and entrance.The new pathway acts similar to a pilgrimage route with multiple stations, settings and episodes along the way.

The Portuguese architect was a logical choice for the unique walkway as he completed the brick-clad production hall in 1994 and devised the layout of the adjacent parking areas. It’s yet another step in the thirty-year development of the Vitra Campus where visitor’s are invited to tour the museums, flagship store and buildings completed by internationally recognized architects.

talking to fashion designer elke walter.

Mar 13, 2014

above> elke and zaha at zhd gallery | ‘elke is my favorite fashion designer’ ~ zaha hadid

We heard fashion designer Elke Walter was in town, having a pop-up store at Deborah Colman and Neil Kraus’ Bucktown store [ pavilion ]
[DesignApplause] Elke, what brings you here to Chicago?
[Elke Walter] We are here to do a pop-up store. Chicago is a great architecture and design destination and I once showed at Luminaire in 2007. So we thought it would be good to come back.

[DA] Is the pop-up concept new to you?
[EW] Actually we started this year. Let’s go back. Last year we, my husband Alfred and myself, moved from Germany to France. We were in a mood to start something new. In Germany, Hamburg, we had a studio and like other designers we were producing and selling to stores. We don’t have a store and I don’t like to go to fashion fairs which allows us to live in the countryside, in Provence, and everything feels very good, almost magical. It seems I am supported by the nature surrounding our new studio, I don’t know how to explain it, I feel it has an influence on my work. If you feel good you can transport this feeling through your work.

[DA] What’s your new environment like?
[EW] We live next to a vineyard. We have a very big garden. It’s a big place though my studio is very small. I now take the time to devote one-to-two hours to work in the garden.

[DA] Do you work alone?
[EW] I am surrounded by very talented and compatible local help. The conceptual, the creative I do myself and my helpers create the prototypes and some of the products. That said, it was difficult to find women who could respond to my needs. But it’s been a year or less so maybe it wasn’t all that difficult.

[DA] As a designer there is a certain element of control.
[EW] True, but the relationship, the chemistry who you work with is very important. And we are a close, small group. We don’t want to be big, we are in the country and I do feel the reduction in pace and pressure compared to a big city.

essentials collection

[DA] How do you work?
[EW] I don’t work on a computer. I don’t sketch. I just cut. I have my basic patterns in mind and I know when I have a fabric what to use it for. I’m always looking for fabrics and I buy what I like. I have something very abstract in mind when I buy the fabrics. Sometimes the concept comes later but sometimes, it’s very exciting when I use the fabric as soon as I come home. I just cut, do the basic seams, the basic sleeves, the rest is open and then I see what I can do with it. At the start I work on a mannequin.

[DA] Ok, so you create as you go. You know the strengths and weaknesses of the fabrics. When someone asks you to do something you can grab the right fabric.
[EW] Yes and, I do not leave the choice to my customers. I like the idea of someone telling me I need a dress, I need a coat, I need something sumptuous, do what you think is good for this. I may be told what the event is and maybe there are limitations like don’t make it black or silver. I may then send just one piece or a box of things that I curate from what I have on hand.

[DA] What is the lead time for a dress?
[EW] If I have the time and I can concentrate on a piece, it can be created within a week if I have the fabric. If I have to look for the fabric I need one week more.

[DA] I learned that you also do work for the performing arts. Tell us about that experience.
[EW] I did performing arts twice. Once for the German theatre and then for the same director for a Hong Kong presentation. It took me three months to work on each. I would like to do it again and we’ll see if an opportunity presents itself but it’s something I don’t pursue with vigor because my regular work needs time too.

[DA] You’ll figure it out. What is your mix within your current portfolio?
[EW] I have a collection called ‘Essentials” which come only in black and there are always pieces available. They are basics and there are many options. Everyone says they feel so comfortable. That’s because of the way I cut. For example, with long sleeves there are no shoulder seams which demands quite a bit more fabric. Production apparel is cut with fabric efficiency in mind, usually at the cost of comfort. I am now spoiled wearing clothes that offer a great degree of comfort and freedom.

[DA] Do you design for men? I’m thin but I’ve worn oversized for such a long time. Now fitted clothes are in and it’s a whole new wardrobe. And I can see a man wearing some of your work.
[EW] Yes, snug clothes are in now, it’s the trend. And the clothes are much cheaper to produce. I am working on a new unisex line. They are coats and jackets and they are loose fitting. I’ve done clothes for my husband and Nasir Kassamali. I’ve done shirts. The men’s jackets look a bit different than what we are used to seeing.

[DA] Do you feel your clothes are designed for a different physique?
[EW] For small people everything looks good. It is difficult if you are very thin. I now have three sizes and they seem to work. One reason is many of my pieces are adjustable or can be worn different ways. You can let it hang loose or cinch it up and make it look best for you.

[DA] How did you get into design?
[EW] I did many things before. Maybe this is not the end. I was a writer, my husband is a writer. We did live in France from 1994 to 2001 and I started designing my own clothes because I couldn’t get what I liked where I lived. There was a day when I needed someone to do something for me and I was forced to do it myself. I placed no restrictions on myself, doing it differently, doing what was possible. I started very simple, then it came closer to the body. Then I got my first customer which I never had in mind to work for other people. But there were other orders and when we went back to Germany I brought my clothes into a shop. At this time I was making one-of-a-kind. And then in 2003 I opened my own store. I would buy fabric and make one-of-a-kind and it was very successful. I couldn’t believe it. One should have studied for what I now do, and the success encouraged me to keep going. I became a member of the German craft council, I am still a member. We went to shows and in New York where I met Nasir and he invited me to go to Miami in 2006. In fact he introduced me to Zaha Hadid and this December I will be showing in her design gallery. Looking back, one day you notice you’re part of the design world and that was never the plan. The plan was to do something for myself.

[DA] Was the craft council responsible for getting you out of your city?
[EW] The council presented opportunities which I followed. For example, the government gives financial support to go to fairs and provides venue to show your work. They also included me in an installation at a Hamburg museum. There were many opportunities.

[DA] What’s the difference between a trunk show and a pop-up store.
[EW] A trunk show typically occurs in a department store or boutique shop and you bring your trunk of work and they bring their customers. With a pop-up you have much more responsibility. It’s your shop within a shop. And you wouldn’t go into a fashion shop because they have their own stable of designers. With a pop-up you can go into many design worlds, an interior world for example and for a brief period of time your work is special within another environment, though design is the common thread.

[DA] Clive Thompson, a writer, says ‘our ideas are inspired by our environment.’ Are you inspired by your environment?
[EW] When I work, what I’m doing, what I like, I cannot say I saw something that inspired me. What should I say? I like certain things of course though I can’t say my dresses are a result of a tangible this or that. You know, it’s here (pointing to heart) and I’ve thought about this and I’ve talked to my husband a lot. For me, when something is done you may give it a name. For example color, some things look like morning dew to me or rain. So you see, my process is the other way around. And the process lives in a claustrophobic place, it’s in my head, and it’s my mirror. It’s me and the fabric. and that’s why, even when we had a studio in Hamburg and we had people working there on staff, I couldn’t be creative there, with people all around me, it was impossible. I took half of the day in my studio and half of the day in my head.

[DA] You mention mirrors. How important are the mirrors in your life?
[EW] Very important. Because I have to see what I’m doing while I’m doing and I want it to be beautiful from all sides.

[DA] So you have a mirror surrounding you?
[EW] No no, it’s one mirror. I am really not complicated, it’s really very simple. And now my space is very small. Me, the mirror, the fabric. And there I am standing, always standing. It’s a very physical exercise when I’m doing one-of-a-kind.

one-of-a-kind

[DA] What’s the function and purpose of clothes. To you?
[EW] We should look good in it. We should look good and be comfortable. And not just like everybody because you get clothes, both cheap and expensive, and I don’t see a difference. The clothes should show your personality. If it’s a simple black thing, cut in a different way, people will say, “Oh she must be special” or “she looks so different”. You don’t want to hide in the crowd. You don’t want to be like a mouse or an insect. Or a fish in the sea.

[DA] Ok. I get it. You know when we are talking about fabrics I was recently a guest of Heimtextil and though I didn’t talk to many designers I was almost always thinking how the designer, the fabric, the presentation, how do they arrive at the end product. How do very successful designers, and I include you, get the fabric?
[EW] Very famous designers work with manufacturers, and we talk about this. For instance in Italy, if you have an idea the manufacturer does it for you. I want this print, this texture, this weight, this function, maybe two colors, maybe 14, and the manufacturer shows you this and that to respond to. If you go to a fabric fair, a very good in Paris, Première Vision, on the first day you just walk around looking touching and you choose the companies you like most, and you choose your samples, your swatches which are sent to your studio. Then back at the studio you put together colors and textures. The best is to find your manufacturer. That way you don’t need 20 options you need just one, two, three, and that’s what we are doing now. And there are also wholesalers who deal in smaller quantities and deal with the designers who are yet another resource to choose. If I do a one-of-a-kind I am looking for a very special unique fabric.

[DA] What are trends to you?
[EW] Trends are market related so you have to do something for the next season. So you buy something new. That’s all. It’s fun for people who participate. I don’t want them to stop. For me, a bit foolish because for example, in the 90s everything had to be neon colored. Shoes, jewelry, nail polish, lipstick. And then you have all this stuff in your closet. You know, this is very personal. And then they say, let’s go back to the 80s. Then everything we just mentioned practically goes to black. The trends are primarily the province of less expensive products and everybody wants to fit in. Granted, its good for the economy.

[DA] Do you throw in the creative recipe sustainable, ecological solutions?
[EW] Oh yes, though I don’t use or look for special ecological, organic fabric, because for me sustainable is that I can wear my work for years on end. And I can wash it and not take it to the dry cleaner and it still looks perfect. It remains unchanged in the design, its freshness, its state.

[DA] I’ve changed my attitude a bit. This past year I had to judge a show of new products and my criteria was if there was no sustainable effort, we are talking about material here in most cases, the object could not receive a vote higher than five, no matter how it looked or behaved. My criteria has shifted more in line with your assessment of what sustainable means and now put that in my equation.
[EW] There are many aspects to this issue. You can work with organics but you also may have a worthy self interest to work local and the material and the manufacturing might not be locally available. And I feel, with what I do, I could have trouble always finding a unique, renewable, beautiful, sumptuous, responsive material for every solution. I can rationalize there are not that many one-of-a-kinds in the big scheme of things.

[DA] You know, I am a hypocrite in this matter. At home we don’t use plastic bottles for water, nor plastic bags at the grocery store. We take public transportation when we can and in DA I preach sustainable. But our car, it would be labeled high performance.
[EW] Ok, if we are going down this path, I don’t use cotton because I don’t like cotton. The material I use is, well, high tech.

zhd gallery pop-up

[DA] Are you on your computer looking at fashion?
[[EW] No, not fashion. I use the computer for music. My son give me music in my dropbox and now I have an extensive playlist and the music goes on before work, during work and occasionally in the evenings. And I enjoy Youtube. The computer is next to my music and I enjoy finding out what the singer looks like, the performance art of the song and I am less interested in what they are wearing.

[DA] When I listen to music I listen to the music, not the words, but the music. I can be following a song for two years and all of a sudden it dawns on me what the song is about.
[EW] When I’m standing, draping and cutting the music needs to be loud. And not classical but edgy. When I’m sitting the volume comes down. I also look at design blogs. I like to look at lighting, installations, I follow Zaha Hadid and enjoy what she creates. I use it for research and follow German and French politics. I read The Guardian online. I’ve looked for shoes. Ah, I don’t have much time to do any of this. I prefer working in the garden. Alfred lives on the computer and tells me everything that’s important. He tells me everything I have to know.

[DA] What’s next?
[EW] Monday we go to France to get ready for Geneva and Hamburg where we are still working with two stores who want our stuff and we do runway shows for their designer week. Then to Berlin where we will be in an art gallery. Then in London where we will be in Hadid’s design gallery. We were also thinking about being in New York at year end where a store wants us to come but we wonder if it’s a good time just before Christmas when everyone, the women who buy our work, are extra busy socially and don’t have the time to come to a pop-up. We are also talking to an artistic photo gallery in Berlin. I like the interplay of photography and my work.

[DA] Anything else?
[[EW] While in Chicago I really enjoyed giving a lecture at the School of the Art Institute fashion department where I was a guest of Katrin Schnabl. In my new space I miss my interns. We had a lot in Hamburg and now I don’t have the space and we live in the countryside and they would have to find a place to live and they would be bored.

[DA] DesignApplause has a roster of about 15 interns and they work when their schedule permits. What’s interesting for me is I pick the ones who are fast at what they do.
[EW] Ah, same here. I don’t pick them because of their portfolio. I first want to talk to them and then I give them a little test. I want to see their practical side and our working chemistry. I am also wanting to get back into objects. Maybe lighting. I am working on a pendant light where the light source is coming from the bottom. I would like to collaborate with a lighting designer and I am looking into that.

at the pavilion pop-up

[ Elke Walter ] is a mainly self-taught designer who has always refused to learn from others. Her aim was to get down to her own creative impact. The inner need to create things and give shape to fabrics was her stimulus.

But after more than 15 years in fashion business, furnishing more than 20 boutiques worldwide, and feeling urged to get back again to her own expressionism Elke and her husband Alfred, decided to make a sharp cut.

In 2012 their 20 boutiques worldwide were informed that they will not be furnished with Elke Walter collections anymore. The Walters gave up store and atelier in Hamburg and moved to Southern France. The reset button was pushed.

In the Provence countryside new expressive design is created that is showcased and sold via a pop up system in Europe and the US. Based on a permanent basic line, the Essentials, one-of-a-kind items are created, as well as a genderless avant-garde and an accessories line. Good form on a base of sustainability.

Innovative design, combined with distinguished craftsmanship is able to produce the thrilling highlights of today.

For the 2nd half of 2014 details to be announced
New York
Sao Paulo
Dallas
London
Miami

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tensile structures. zaha hadid.

Nov 1, 2013

Superyacht. Zaha hadid.

Oct 17, 2013

above> 295-foot JAZZ yacht (left) next to the 420-foot concept yacht | renderings & video courtesy of zaha hadid architects | click > enlarge

Zaha Hadid’s latest is a yacht—five yachts, actually, each of them a variant on a family of boats with a fluid, biological look. Each can also be customized in comfort features and other outfittings by the company of Blohm+Voss, which also did a Philippe Starck design earlier.

420-foot concept yacht

The idea of the Unique Circle Yachts allows for variation of a genotype and its phenotypes. The company says, “Zaha Hadid’s design is malleable to suit the very individual wishes and needs of a potential customer.”
Hadid’s office describes the Unique Circle Yachts this way:

The overall design is informed by fluid dynamics and underwater ecosystems, with hydrodynamic research shaping the design of the hull. The exoskeleton structure of the upper section is an interwoven network of supports that vary in thickness and lend a natural aesthetic to the yacht’s external appearance; evoking the organic structural systems of natural marine formations and connecting the various levels and decks of the ship seamlessly via expressive diagonals.

Whereas traditional yacht designs adhere to a strict horizontal order, this exoskeleton creates an intense connectivity between the various decks and elements of the design. The fluid design language of the master prototype has been applied to the five subsequent 90m variations of the Unique Circle Yachts, creating a design with the highest correlation between the various options.

295-foot JAZZ yacht

main cabin

owner’s cabin

>model of concept

Architect
Zaha Hadid Design
Design
Zaha Hadid
Patrik Schumacher
Design Team Thomas Vietzke, Jens Borstelmann, Daniel Widrig, Sofia Daniilidou, Ben Grubert, Phillip Mecke, Patrick Euler
Naval Engineering Michael Von der Heide, Thomas Sperling

L.O.A > 90.0M (295 FT)
Beam (Max) > 16.0M (52FT)
Draught > 4.2M (13FT)
Speed (MA X) >16.0 KN
Cruising Speed > 14.0KN
Range > 5000 Nautical Miles
Class > Lloyd’s Register
Propulsion > 2X2160 KW | diesel via gearbox to fixed prop
Manoeuvring System > 1 X Bow thruster

1> concept
2> JAZZ
3,4> JAZZ aft
5,6 > main cabin
7,8,9 > owner’s cabin

[ official release ]
The design concept, launched at the latest exhibition of Zaha Hadid’s work at the David Gill Gallery in London, is based around the sculptural form of a master prototype conceived for a 128m yacht. In addition, the Unique Circle Yachts by Zaha Hadid Architects for Blohm+Voss is a family of five individual 90m yachts that creatively explore the design philosophies of the master prototype within the technical requirements of a fully-engineered yacht design.

The overall design is informed by fluid dynamics and underwater ecosystems, with hydrodynamic research shaping the design of the hull. The exoskeleton structure of the upper section is an interwoven network of supports that vary in thickness and lend a natural aesthetic to the yacht’s external appearance; evoking the organic structural systems of natural marine formations and connecting the various levels and decks of the ship seamlessly via expressive diagonals.

Whereas traditional yacht designs adhere to a strict horizontal order, this exoskeleton creates an intense connectivity between the various decks and elements of the design. The fluid design language of the master prototype has been applied to the five subsequent 90m variations of the Unique Circle Yachts, creating a design with the highest correlation between the various options.

The 90m JAZZ yacht is the first of the five Unique Circle Yachts that has been technically specified and detailed by the naval architects at Blohm+Voss. Its lineage from the 128m master prototype is evident, with further technical refinements to address the specifications required for ocean crossings.

In addition to JAZZ, four further 90m yachts have been designed to fulfil the different requirements and individual requests of their designated owners. Each design will vary in layout according to the owner’s preferences.

The design process was very much a collaborative one, with Blohm+Voss and ZHA working together to address the practical challenges of designing a yacht while remaining true to the design language of the master prototype. The resulting designs are the synergy of Hadid’s design vision and the technical expertise of Blohm+Voss, allowing a flexibility and customisation in the eventual design of the yacht.

“As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture – which all become much more extreme on water. Each yacht is an engineered platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety.” explained Zaha Hadid.

Blohm+Voss has the proven experience, the in-house technical expertise, and the capacities to offer tailor-made solutions for the most demanding buyers in the superyacht market. The naval architects of Blohm+Voss are forever pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation. In recent years Blohm+Voss has built many of the world’s most prestigious mega yachts. These include the groundbreaking 394-foot “A “designed by Philippe Starck , the “Eclipse”, designed by Terrence Disdale, which at 533 feet (162.5 m) is the world’s second largest private yacht. Other Blohm + Voss superyacht projects include, the “Mayan Queen IV” and the “Palladium”.

Dr. Herbert Aly, CEO and Managing Partner of Blohm+Voss says: “On an aesthetic level, a superyacht is a great design task as everything is customised down to the last detail. A superyacht is by definition an exercise in total design, where every detail is looked at with attention and refinement. In the past, in the era of steam liners, there has been an attempt of utilising ship building elements in architecture. Zaha Hadid and her team have taken this ethos and created a bold new vision and a new benchmark in the design of superyachts.”

Aly adds: “The idea of the Unique Circle Yachts allows for variation of a genotype and its phenotypes, offering a range of possible solutions based on an cognate platform. As a result Zaha Hadid’s design is malleable to suit the very individual wishes and needs of a potential customer which lies at the heart of Blohm+Voss’ approach to yacht design. The strength of the design lies not just in its functionality and form, but also its effortless adaptability.”

Zaha Hadid Architects and Blohm+Voss have transformed yacht design; creating an innovative concept and developing this vision into a fully seaworthy prototype that offers dynamic new possibilities for naval architecture.

[ zaha hadid architects ] [ blohm+voss ]

about phil patton

nova shoe. zaha hadid for united nude.

Jul 8, 2013

nova | zaha hadid | 2013 | image > united nude

Architecture for the woman’s foot: Right on the ‘heels’ of the last months ‘Prima‘ installation for Swarovski at Vitra Fire Station, Zaha Hadid launches the NOVA shoe. The design extends the conversation of Hadid’s remarkable journey as an articulator of complexity and daring. No doubt these shoes will appear on the scene though not designed to match the 10-year popularity of iconic Möbius*. Price: $2,000 / $200* usd.

The limited edition haute couture shoe NOVA is a collaboration of Hadid and Rem D Koolhaas of United Nude. A design statement that combines innovative material, ergonomics and Hadid’s architectural language to convey an inherent sense of movement.

mobius hi > united nude | 2003

[ united nude ] is a design company specializing in high heels. Since the launch of its first shoe named Möbius, the company has opened studios in London and Guangzhou.

[ official release ]
Zaha hadid and Rem d Koolhaas of United nude are delighted to announce the new limited edition haute couture shoe designed by Zaha hadid will be launched at the iconic store L’eclaireur, 40 rue de Sévigné, Paris, on July 2nd 2013.

Zaha hadid and United nude’s Creative director Rem d Koolhaas have been talking about shoes since they first met years ago. Hadid, an architect with a passion for shoes, and Rem D, the original shoe architect, agreed to collaborate on the design of a shoe with no pre-conceptions and ignore all the rules to create an entirely new form of shoe.

The result is quintessentially hadid. the revolutionary design of the nOVa shoe combines innovative materialization and ergonomic considerations with the dynamism of hadid’s unmistakable architectural language to convey an inherent sense of movement; revealing the experimentation and invention of Hadid’s process through every stage of design and construction.

“United Nude’s collections are provocative yet sensual. Rem D Koolhaas’ unrelenting experimentation at the cutting edge of fashion never fails to capture our imagination.” explains Hadid. “I have always appreciated those who dare to experiment with materials and proportions. Our collaboration with United Nude reinterprets the classic shoe typology; pushing the boundaries of what is possible without compromising integrity.”

The NOVA design incorporates intricate striations juxtaposed with dramatic realignments, establishing a direct formal relationship with the shoe’s primary structure and expressing the dynamic forces applied by every step of the wearer.

[ zaha hadid architects ] [ united nude ]

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Prima by zaha hadid. Swarovski and vitra design museum.

Jun 5, 2013

Zaha Hadid has created ‘Prima‘ an installation for Swarovski at Vitra Fire Station on the Vitra Campus, Weil am Rhein, Germany. Hadid, is one of the world’s most celebrated architects and the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in architecture. For years, her radical designs remained on the drawing board, but the turning point came in 1993 with the opening of the Vitra Fire Station commissioned by Vitra’s founder Rolf Fehlbaum.

Prima will be installed in front of the Fire Station, reflecting and honoring the design process of the building. The project recalls the dynamism of Hadid’s original drawings created for the Vitra Fire Station, exploding in three dimensions from the lines and planes of the paintings and sketches. Its reflective surfaces contain seating for visitors and are illuminated with LED technology.

Hadid comments, “I’m equally proud of all my projects as they each represent different times of my career and periods of research, but I have a particular affection for Vitra Fire Station as it was my first building. Rolf Fehlbaum shares my passion for architecture and was inspired by my early visualizations. He dared to engage me without seeing a prior track record and without the certainty of public success. Returning to Vitra to work with Swarovski on this installation has been a very rewarding experience.”

Painting formed a critical part of Hadid’s early career as the design tool that allowed powerful experimentation in both form and movement – leading to the development of a new language for architecture. Hadid’s interest in the concepts of fragmentation and abstraction is evident throughout her repertoire and continues to this day. Originally engaging with the work of Kazimir Malevich, Hadid translated the warped and anti-gravitational space of Russian avant-garde painting and sculpture into her own unique architectural practice.

Using the advanced design and manufacturing technologies available today, the facets of Prima are a direct translation of the dynamic two-dimensional lines and planes on the canvas, reflecting Hadid’s detailed experimentation to perfect the Fire Station design. The installation continues this research, documenting Hadid’s remarkable journey as an articulator of complexity: a 2D sketch evolves into a workable space, and then into a realized building.

Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Swarovski Executive Board, commented: “Zaha is an astonishing force of nature who imparts her designs with power and grace in equal measure. It has been an honour to work with her once again on this exciting celebratory commission. Prima is a dramatic sculptural installation – half art, half furniture, and stunningly beautiful.”

Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman of Vitra, said: “I am happy to have worked with Zaha Hadid at such an early stage of her dazzling career. Her Fire Station is a spectacular building and it looks as impressive now as it did when it was first built. Few other architects would have been able to transform a modest commission like ours into a masterpiece of contemporary architecture. Zaha has been able to do so, thanks to an incredible sense of space and a radically new vision of what architecture can represent.”

[ prima ] is a structure composed of five highly polished components with angled planes, the installation is made from composite materials, and the surfaces are covered in a gun-smoke metal coating. Each component weighs 300 to 500 kg and the overall dimension of the installation is 11 x 8 metres.

zaha hadid and nadja swarovski

[ zaha hadid ] Hadid was born in Baghdad and studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving to London to attend the Architectural Association (AA) School. She founded Zaha Hadid Architects in 1979 and completed her first building, the Vitra Fire Station, Germany in 1993. Her dynamic and innovative projects include the MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games and the Guangzhou Opera House in China. Hadid is currently working on a multitude of projects worldwide including High-Speed train stations in Naples and Durango; the Fiera di Milano masterplan and tower as well as major master-planning projects in Beijing, Bilbao, Istanbul and Singapore. Time magazine included Hadid in their list of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ and in 2012, Zaha Hadid was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

[ swarovski ] is a global leader in crystal with a diverse product portfolio that is loved by designers and millions of customers around the world. It brings innovation in jewelry, fashion, beauty, home accessories and collaborates in art, design, fashion, film, stage and screen that challenges emerging and established creative talents to evolve groundbreaking new uses for crystal.

[ vitra design museum ] is dedicated to the research and presentation of design, past and present, and examines the relationship of design to architecture, art and everyday culture. The Museum was founded in 1989 by the company Vitra and its owner Rolf Fehlbaum and is today led by directors Mateo Kries and Marc Zehntner. Mounting two major exhibitions and several more shows, events and workshops per year, it has its headquarters in a building by the Californian architect Frank Gehry, situated within the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Its extensive collection encompasses key objects of design history, and the estates of several important figures in design (including Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Verner Panton and Alexander Girard).

installation: 12 june > 11 august 2013 | weil am rhein, germany
@swarovski #prima