Zaha Hadid is an architect who consistently pushes the boundaries of architecture and urban design. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts intensifying existing urban landscapes in the pursuit of a visionary aesthetic that encompasses all fields of design, ranging from urban scale through to products, interiors and furniture. Best known for her seminal built works (Vitra Fire Station, Land Formation-One, Bergisel Ski Jump, Strasbourg Tram Station and Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati) her central concerns involve a simultaneous engagement in practice, teaching and research.
Education and Teaching
Hadid studied architecture at the Architectural Association from 1972 and was awarded the Diploma Prize in 1977. She then became a partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, taught at the AA with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, and later led her own studio at the AA until 1987. Since then she held the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Chicago; 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. In addition, she was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and Commander of the British Empire, 2002. She is currently Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria and is the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design for the Spring Semester 2004 at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
Competitions
Hadid has been testing the boundaries of architectural design in a series of research-based competitions. Winning designs include The Peak, Hong Kong (1983); Kurfürstendamm, Berlin (1986); Düsseldorf Art and Media Centre (1992/93); Cardiff Bay Opera House, Wales (1994); Thames Water/Royal Academy Habitable Bridge, London (1996); Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati (1998); University of North London Holloway Road Bridge (1998); The Centre for Contemporary Arts, Rome (1999); Bergisel Ski-jump, Innsbruck (1999); The Wolfsburg Science Centre (2000); the Maritime Ferry Terminal in Salerno, (2000); Placa de les Artes in Barcelona (2001); One-north Masterplan for Singapore's Science Hub (2001); the Ordrupgaard Museum Extension in Copenhagen (2001); the BMW Central Plant Building in Leipzig (2002); the Price Tower Art Center, Bartlesville (2002); the Departement de l’Herault Culture Sport Building, Montpellier (2003); the new High Speed Rail Station Napoli-Afragola, Naples (2003); the Guangzhou Opera House, China (2003); and a masterplan for Beijing’s Soho City, China (2003).
Other competition entries include large scale urban studies for Hamburg, Madrid, Bordeaux and Cologne; museum buildings in Bad Deutsch Altenburg, Austria, Madrid (Prado, Reina Sofia, Royal Palace), the Victoria & Albert Museum's Boilerhouse Gallery, London and a Museum of Islamic Arts in Doha, Qatar; concert halls for Copenhagen and Luxembourg; a theatre for the Hackney Empire, London and large scale multi-functional buildings for 42nd street, New York as well as for the IIT Campus in Chicago, and third prize for an event and delivery centre for BMW in Munich.
Projects
Zaha Hadid's built work has won her much academic and public acclaim. Her best known projects to date are the Vitra Fire Station and the LFone pavilion in Weil am Rhein, Germany (1993/1999), a housing project for IBA-Block 2 in Berlin, Germany (1993), the Mind Zone at the Millennium Dome, Greenwich, London, UK (1999), a Tram Station and Car Park in Strasbourg, France (2001), a Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria (2002) and the Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, US (2003). She has also completed furniture and interiors: Bitar, London (1985); Moonsoon Restaurant, Sapporo (1990); Z-Play (2002) and Z-Scape (2000) furniture manufactured by Sawaya and Moroni; and the Tea and Coffee Towers for Alessi (2003). Her temporary structures include: Folly in Osaka (1990); Music Video Pavilion in Groningen, Netherlands (1990); a Pavilion for Blueprint Magazine at Interbuild, Birmingham (1995); the installation Meshworks at the Villa Medici, Rome, Italy (2000) the summer pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery, London, UK (2000); and the R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain (2001); and a snow and ice installation at the Snow Show, Lapland (2004). Zaha Hadid has also worked on a number of stage sets: Pet Shop Boys World Tour (1999/2000); Metapolis, for Charleroi Dance production company, Belgium (2000); and Beat Furrer’s opera, Desire, commissioned by the Steirischer Herbst, Graz (2003).
Publications
Hadid’s work is widely published in periodicals and monographs which include “Zaha Hadid: Planetary Architecture Two” (no.11, 1983); “Zaha Hadid”, AA files (no.5, 1986); “Zaha Hadid 1983-1991”, El Croquis (no.52, Dec, 1991,Madrid); “Zaha Hadid 1992-1995”, El Croquis (no. 73, Sept, 1995, Madrid); “El Croquis 1996-2001” (no. 103, 2001, Madrid); “Zaha Hadid: The Complete Buildings and Projects” (Thames & Hudson, 1998); “Zaha Hadid - LF One” (Birkhäuser, 1999); “Architecture of Zaha Hadid in photographs by Helene Binet” (Lars Muller Publishers, 2000); “Zaha Hadid, Opere e Progetti” (Italy, 2002); “Zaha Hadid Architektur”, (MAK, Vienna, 2003); GA Document (nos. 65 and 66. Japan, 2001); New York Times (June 2002 and June 2003); Financial Times (June 2002 and June 2003); The Independent (June 2002); Time Magazine (October 2002 and June 2003); Newsweek (May 2003), “Zaha Hadid Space for Art” (Lars Muller Publishers, 2004).
Exhibitions
Hadid's paintings and drawings have always been an important testing field, and a medium for the exploration of her design. Major exhibitions include a retrospective at the Architectural Association, London (1983), the Guggenheim Museum, New York (1978), the GA Gallery, Tokyo (1985), “Deconstructivist Architecture” at MoMA, New York (1988), the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (1995), Grand Central Station New York (1995), the San Francisco MoMA (1997/98), The Venice Architecture Biennale (2000), “Zaha Hadid Lounge” at the Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg (2001), The Venice Architecture Biennale (2002), “Zaha Hadid” MAXXI in Rome (2002), “Zaha Hadid Laboratory” in Yale (2002) - the National Building Museum, Washington (2002) - Price Tower Arts Centre Gallery (2002) - and the Artists Space in New York (2003), “Zaha Hadid Architecture” MAK Exhibition Hall in Vienna (2003). Hadid's work also forms part of the permanent collections of various institutions such as MoMA New York, MoMA San Francisco and the Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt, Germany. Exhibition designs are: 'The Great Utopia', Guggenheim Museum, New York (1992); 'WishMachine' at the Vienna Kunsthalle (1996); 'Addressing the Century' at the Hayward Gallery, London (1998); Paper Art at the Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Düren (1996); Jewellery Exhibition, Zurich (2000); ‘Borderline Exhibition’ Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels (2000).
Awards
Gold Medal Architectural Design, British Architecture for 59 Eaton Place, London, 1982 Honourable Member of the Bund Deutsches Architekten, 1998 Honourable Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2000 Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects, 2000 Mind Zone, Millennium Dome, London - RIBA Awards 2000 Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North, Strasbourg - FX Awards 2001 Finalist Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North, Strasbourg - Equerre d'Argent special mention, 2001 Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North, Strasbourg - AIA UK Chapter Award, 2002 One-north Master Plan, Singapore - AIA UK Chapter Honourable Mention, 2002 Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North, Strasbourg - Red Dot Award, 2002 Bergisel Ski Jump, Innsbruck - Austrian State Architecture Prize, 2002 Bergisel Ski Jump, Innsbruck - WIRED Rave Awards Nominee, 2003 Bergisel Ski Jump, Innsbruck - Tyrolean Architecture Award, 2002 Commander of the British Empire, 2002 Car Park and Terminus Hoenheim North, Strasbourg - Mies van der Rohe Award 2003 Architect of the year 2004, Blueprint Award Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati - WIRED Rave Award 2004 Zaha Hadid, Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2004
Current Projects
Zaha Hadid's Practice is working on a variety of projects including: the Maritime Ferry Terminal in Salerno, Italy; the High Speed Train Station in Napoli-Afragola, Italy; a housing project in Florence, Italy; a public square and cinema complex in Barcelona, Spain; the interior design for “Hotel Puerta America” in Madrid, Spain; the “Spittelau Viaduct” housing project in Vienna, Austria; the “Maggie's Centre” in Kirkcaldy, Scotland; a Building for the Department de l’Herault Culture Sport in Montpellier, France; a major bridge structure in Abu Dhabi; an extension of the Price Tower Arts Centre in Bartlesville, USA; the Guggenheim Museum in Taichung; and the Guangzhou Opera House in China. The Practice is currently on site with: the “Central Plant Building” for BMW in Leipzig, Germany, to be completed this year; the Contemporary Arts Centre “MAXXI” in Rome, Italy; the Ordrupgaard Museum extension in Copenhagen, Denmark; and the “Phaeno Science Centre” in Wolfsburg, Germany. Recently the Practice completed a design for the “One North” Master Plan in Singapore. The Studio is also working on a Master Plan for Bilbao’s “Zorrotzaurre” district in Spain; a Master Plan for Beijing’s “Soho City” in China and is on the final competition shortlist of architects to design the Olympic Village for New York City’s 2012 bid.