Zaha Hadid's Early Biography: Name: Style
Zaha Hadid's Early Biography: Name: Style
Zaha Hadid's Early Biography: Name: Style
Style: Deconstructivism (breaking architecture, displacement and distortion, leaving the vertical
and the horizontal, using rotations on small, sharp angles, breaks up structures apparent chaos)
INTRODUCTION
Zaha Hadid's early biography
Anyone who has passed the London Olympic Aquatic Centre would recognize the stamp
of Zaha Hadid’s style. The Iraqi-born British architect is known for being a rare woman
on a male-dominated podium. Her accolades included a Royal Gold Medal for
architecture – the first one to be awarded to a woman in its 167-year history – and two
Starling Prizes, to name just a couple.
Zaha Hadid’s style was born early in her career, as she planned a famous design for The
Peak, in Hong Kong. It was to be a deconstructed, horizontal skyscraper, turning heads
in the architecture world. Unfortunately, the concept – and most of her radical '80s and
early '90s designs – including the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin and the Düsseldorf Art and
Media Centre, were never brought to life. They were considered too avant-garde to be
taken beyond sketches, and she started to gain a reputation as a "paper architect".
Hadid stated that her architectural designs were not intended as a personal stamp on the
world, or an act of self-indulgence. Rather, addressing 21st-century challenges and
opportunities is the cornerstone to Zaha Hadid’s style and creations.
Architecture, she claimed, "must contribute to society's progress and ultimately to our
individual and collective wellbeing." The buildings born of her vision and the collective
genius of her firm Zaha Hadid Architects, may sometimes seem fantastical, triumphant
and even a bit loud, but they all stem from architecture’s base function – to facilitate and
even perform everyday life.
This successful architect is a polarizing figure, with outspoken suggestions to
pedestrianize vast swathes of London, a plan which aims to alleviate problems such as
pollution and road safety. Plans by Zaha Hadid Architects for two soaring towers in
Vauxhall have also had their fair share of opposition, as well as support.
Whether it's for her more controversial designs, her unrealized dreams or her
masterpieces which have come to fruition, Zaha Hadid’s style is rightly globally
recognized, and she has obtained legendary status since her death in March 2016. In the
following, we will introduce you in more detail to some of her best-known creations.
Her style is Deconstructivism (breaking architecture, displacement and distortion, leaving
the vertical and the horizontal, using rotations on small, sharp angles, breaks up structures
apparent chaos)
DESIGN
Galleries, Walkway and Materials Located around a large full height space which gives
access to the galleries dedicated to permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, the
auditorium, reception services, cafeteria and bookshop.
Outside, a pedestrian walkway follows the outline of the building, restoring an urban link
that has been blocked for almost a century by the former military barracks in Rome.
Materials such as glass (roof), steel (stairs) and cement (walls) give the exhibition
spaces a neutral appearance, whilst mobile panels enable curatorial flexibility and variety.
Sinuous shape The fluid and sinuous shapes, the variety and interweaving of spaces and
the modulated use of natural light lead to a spatial and functional framework of great
complexity, offering constantly changing and unexpected views from within the building
and outdoor spaces.