Burnham Pavilion / Zaha Hadid

Aug 2009

Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

The figure of Daniel Burnham has been very important for the city of Chicago as we currently know it, as he was one of the authors of the Plan of Chicago, also known as the Burnham Plan, which reshaped Chicago’s central area starting in 1909. To celebrate the centennial of this plan several events have been held during this year, such as the Union Station 2020 competition and the Burnham Memorial competition. Also, two pavilions by UN Studio and Zaha Hadid have been temporally installed at the Millenium Park (read our previous article about this), hosting multimedia exhibits on the future of Chicago. The pavilions will be opened to the public until Oct 31st, 2009.

Zaha Hadid Architects´s pavilion merges new formal concepts with the memory of Burnham’s bold, historic urban planning. Superimpositions of spatial structures with hidden traces of Burnham’s Plan are overlaid and inscribed within the structure to create a dynamic form.

Read Zaha´s statement on the design after the break:

Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

“The Burnham Plan Centennial is all about celebrating the bold plans and big dreams of Daniel Burnham’s visionary Plan of Chicago. It’s about reinvention and improvement on an urban scale and about welcoming the future with innovative ideas and technologies. Our design continues Chicago’s renowned tradition of cutting edge architecture and engineering, at the scale of a temporary pavilion, whilst referencing the organizational systems of Burnham’s Plan. The structure is aligned with a diagonal in Burnham’s early 20th Century Plan of Chicago. We then overlay fabric using contemporary 21st Century techniques to generate the fluid, organic form – while the structure is always articulated through the tensioned fabric as a reminder of Burnham’s original ideas.”

Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

“Fabric is both a traditional and a high-tech material whose form is directly related to the forces applied to it – creating beautiful geometries that are never arbitrary. I find this very exciting.”

- Zaha Hadid

Client: Burnham Plan Centennial
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Local architect: Thomas Roszak
Structural engineers: Rockey Structures
Fabricator: Fabric Images
Lighting & electrical: Tracey Dear
Multimedia content: The Gray Circle

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Images courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects © Michelle Litvin

: Top view

: Plan

: Long section

: Elevations North & South

: Elevations East & West

: Cross section

46 comments »

leogeo says:

What creativity I wonder how she comes up with such amazing designs!

# August 24, 2009 at 22:06

theChavacano says:

Computer designs

# August 25, 2009 at 02:10

madvillan says:

maya slaves. ‘get back to work’ wohhh-cheee!!

# August 25, 2009 at 15:14

EL says:

Eh…It was a cool form, but overall I was disapointed when I saw it for the first time. The perforations overhead are covered in a mosquito net, makes the whole experience feel like you’re standing in a big tent. They had to put up chain rails around the interior because the ‘tent’ was so low to the ground, people were stepping on it and getting it really dirty. Even worse than the UNstudio pavilion, it is not able to be handled by the public. Who wants to be in an intriguing space that you cant interact with?? I call that a museum.

Kudos for the sleek form, but a more durable construction method is needed.

# August 24, 2009 at 22:23

C++ says:

Step One – Instruct Lifeless Intern to Open Rhino

Step Two – Make Form

Step Three- Contour

Step Four- Send to Engineer and Architect of Record to Figure out Anything Technical.

Step Five- Make up a Story.

# August 24, 2009 at 22:38

Z says:

“Step One – Instruct Lifeless Intern to Open Rhino

Step Five- Make up a Story.”

—————————————————–
Spoken like a true architect

# August 26, 2009 at 14:50

marc says:

it looks like a cockroach or something.. heehee

# August 25, 2009 at 00:11

novan says:

the ambient light is wonderfull….i don’t know what she’s thinking about design

# August 25, 2009 at 00:43

fokt says:

Not to be anal, but it’s Daniel Burnham; not David. Let’s get the names of historic figures correct.

# August 25, 2009 at 02:56

David Basulto [tricky] says:

Shame on me :(

it´s been fixed

# August 25, 2009 at 09:38

Alan Docherty says:

It is strikingly similar to a pavilion by cre8architecture previously published on archdaily

http://www.archdaily.com/21947/art-pavillion-cre8-architecture/

# August 25, 2009 at 04:16

francesco says:

and to other millions of identical potatoes spread all over the first year classes of architecture in every school of the world nowadays. Isn’t it?

# August 25, 2009 at 04:57

Dear Alan,

I have to disagree on that. I think that the generative structure is WAY different, hence the final result.

# August 25, 2009 at 09:39

Joshua says:

the morei effect on the cre8 pavilion is nice though

# August 25, 2009 at 12:37

WJD says:

I hope Chicago becomes the 2016 summer olympic choice. For more than one year Chicago has taken many positive steps to show visitors and it’s citizens what the city may be like if it is chosen by the IOC. I believe this project has little if anything to do with Burnham, and more to do with olympic selection process. The IOC will announce its choice this October; this these architecture demonstration projects add welcome help.

# August 25, 2009 at 08:31

public eye says:

The form could just be created without the mention of Daniel Burnham. Architects always create the form they like and then they try to give a reason for it; sometimes convincing, sometimes, like this Zaha’s, just BS.

# August 25, 2009 at 10:22

Davey Stewart says:

Where’d Hadid get her creativity? Have a look here at Thomas Heatherwick’s site: http://tinyurl.com/ngglvw

Heatherwick seems also to have been the inspiration for the pentagon memorial, the design of which was shown on this site last September: http://tinyurl.com/lfdpfz

Variations of TH’s seats are also to be seen at the HighLine SkyPark in NYC: http://tinyurl.com/ny9ftu

# August 25, 2009 at 10:50

kyle says:

I visited it. The construction method is pretty cool but the actual real life thing is almost a let down after the renderings. The zipper sleeve is really complex and a neat concept but the wrinkles leave a little to be desired. The other pavilion at the site by UNstudio is great from about 150 feet but really is kind of junky when you get close because the construction isn’t that smooth and they really didn’t take into account thousands of visitors every day.

# August 25, 2009 at 11:28

gigi says:

thanx Kyle — nice to get a hands-on/eyes-on perspective… the random player haters comments were a bit much… Was looking forward to checking it out when I make it up there again/ Got a Fibonacci/shell-ish vibe from photos — so you think execution got the better of it?

# September 1, 2009 at 11:36

jeffrey says:

i think its funny you guys posted Zaha’s pavilion and not Van Berkel’s. . . . whats up with that?

# August 25, 2009 at 13:08

Jeffrey,

We featured both on the opening:

http://www.archdaily.com/25975/pavilions-open-at-millenium-park/

ZHA sent us this material.. sadly UN Studio doesn´t send us too many information. But I might pull someting out of our sleeve later on today ;)

# August 25, 2009 at 13:58

Peter says:

I appreciate her efforts! I personally don’t like this form obsessed architecture but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate specially when is done with such perfection! I get upset when I see mediocre work in the same page as great work!

# August 25, 2009 at 13:35

marcial says: