Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) celebrates their 15-year journey in China with an exhibition at the Guardian Art Center in Beijing. “The New World” highlights their work and research in the fields of architecture and urbanism. Moreover, it details the evolution of ZHA’s work since opening its first office in China. The exhibition showcases the studio’s approach to projects, with a heavy focus on their new digital design tools and technology.
In 1983, Zaha Hadid Architects explained that “technology’s rapid development and our ever-changing lifestyles have created a fundamentally new and exhilarating backdrop for architecture, and in this new world context, I felt we must reinvestigate the aborted and untested experiments of Modernism - not to resurrect them, but to unveil new ideas”. Within this context, “The New World” showcases that ZHA’s work is based on extensive research and a diverse approach. It explores the development of new modes of design, construction techniques, and materials used by ZHA that lessen the environmental impact while improving each building's performance. Furthermore, the exhibition highlights new digital design tools, robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality among the technologies at their disposal, facilitating this change.
ZHA's first structure in China was the Guangzhou Opera House, which was finished in 2010. Since then, 14 additional ground-breaking Chinese buildings have begun operations, including the Leeza SOHO tower in Beijing and the Daxing International Airport. These landmark projects are revisited in the New World exhibition, and 25 ZHA additional projects are now under construction nationwide. Furthermore, the display also looks at ZHA's information-rich and socially engaging metaverse virtual architecture. ZHA's virtual environments strongly emphasize user experience and engagement by combining high-speed network, 3D, and multiplayer online video game development tools. ZHA's virtual worlds foster global connections.
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Zaha Hadid's, Under Construction, Chengdu Science Fiction Museum Will Host Worldcon 2023The exhibition is split into ten different zones, each showcasing specific contents of the studio’s work. It addresses the complexity of modern-day life with statement fluid geometries informed by the logic of the natural world. ZHA’s research aims to continually improve methodologies for the construction industry, collaborating with leading scientific institutions globally. Moreover, they focus on sustainability strategies and materials, using data analytics and agent-based modeling to address individual and overall wellness. The studio aims to understand the complete picture of the built environment to meet every new generation's needs.
Zaha Hadid’s Business Stadium Central has recently been granted approval by the City of Vilnius in Lithuania. The project will become a new public gathering place for the city, with mixed-use activities such as workspaces, health, and wellness facilities. The studio also designed the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, which will host the 81st annual World Science Fiction Convention this year. Finally, Zaha Hadid Architects, in collaboration with engineering consultants Sweco and landscape architect Tredje Natur, was selected to deliver the new Aarhus football stadium in Denmark.
