Zaha Hadid has been selected to design the new Iraqi Parliament building in Baghdad. The controversial decision comes after London-based Assemblage was crowned as winner of a RIBA-led competition for the building, which place Hadid’s proposal third. Though a dispute began once the competition’s client sparked conversations with Hadid after the winning firm was named, the client stated that competition rules allow for any shortlisted design proposal to be ultimately chosen for construction.
The Documentation Center of Cambodia’s (DC-Cam) has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design the much-anticipated genocide studies institute in Phnom Penh. The new campus, known as the Sleuk Rith Institute, will serve as an extension of DC-Cam’s work as the country’s go-to archive for Khmer Rouge history as well as a leading center for genocide studies in Asia. Within a modest campus, the institute will house a “cross-section of pursuits,” including a genocide studies center, a school, a museum for memorial and education purposes, and more.
"Youk Chhang's vision is inspirational,” stated Zaha Hadid. “His brief for the Sleuk Rith Institute calls for beauty and an optimism for the future to heal and reconnect a country, with the Documentation Centre of Cambodia being key to that process."
UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that Japan's minister of education, Hakubun Shimomura, has announced a plan to trim the budget proposed for the Olympic stadium (now expected to cost $3 billion) designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. While he did not reveal the details of the scale-down, he maintained that the "design concept will be kept."
Pritzker Prize laureate Fumihiko Maki has rallied together a number of Japanese architects - including Sou Fujimoto, Toyo Ito and Kengo Kuma - to oppose the massive scale of Zaha Hadid’s competition-winning National Stadium. Planned to be Tokyo’s main venue for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, Hadid’s 290,000 square meter stadium is accused of being “too big and too artificial” for the surrounding context.
Inspired by the dolls’ house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition in 1922, twenty British practices are each designing a contemporary dolls’ house in aid of the disabled childrens’ charity KIDS. Each version will sit on a 750mm square plinth to be auctioned at Bonham's on the 11th November and contains one feature which would make life easier for a disabled child. Among the participating practices is Zaha Hadid Architects and Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. FAT will also be working with Turner Prize recipient Grayson Perry CBE, and Studio Egret West with artist Andrew Logan.
See all the entries after the break...
Scheduled to open its doors in 2016, the new office building and hotel designed by Zaha Hadid for Dubai is already under construction. Dubbed "Opus," the new tower will be the first mixed-use building to be developed in the city as two individual structures and conceived as a single cube formed by a conventional slabs stacked vertically and served by a circulation core.
With the opening of her latest London project, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in Hyde Park, Xan Brooks of the Guardian conducted this interview with the enigmatic Zaha Hadid. They discuss some of her greatest successes (The MAXXI museum) and some of the contentious issues around some of her buildings (Galaxy Soho, for example) - before moving on to her approach to designing for oppressive regimes (yes, "if it helps people") and finally her apprehension over a return trip to Iraq, the homeland which she has not returned to in over 30 years. You can read the full article here.
Inspired by the dolls' house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition in 1922, twenty British practices are each designing a contemporary dolls' house in aid of the disabled childrens' charity KIDS. Each version will sit on a 750mm square plinth to be exhibited during this year's London Design Festival (14th - 21st September, 2013) before being auctioned. Each design must contain "a unique feature to make life easier for a child who is disabled."
The past weekend we announced the three countries competing to be the Olympic Games 2020 host.
We know that Tokyo won the race and that is why today we invite you to take a virtual tour of the Olympic Stadium project designed by Zaha Hadid, which involves the refurbishment of the former Japan National Stadium, originally built for the 1964 Games. The expanded sports complex will be able to accommodate 80,000 spectators.
From "Paper Architect" to employing over 400 staff working on 950 projects in 44 countries, Zaha Hadid has proven that her avant-garde ideas are not only buildable, but also the most popular architectural brand in the world. China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the countries first in line to commission Hadid icons. Rowan Moore, however, claims that her recent accolades have come at the cost of her original ideals, becoming trapped in her own public persona. Read the full article, Zaha Hadid: queen of the curve.
On September 28, 2013, Zaha Hadid Architects will be celebrating the completion of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. An extension to London’s famous Serpentine Gallery, the new innovative arts venue will be housed in a 208-year-old, Grade II-listed building, formerly known as The Magazine, in Kensington Gardens just north of the main gallery.
This project will be Zaha Hadid’s first permanent structure in central London and second commission from the Gallery, as she designed the inaugural Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in 2000.
The RIBA has announced three projects—two located in Asia and one in the United States—for the shortlist of the RIBA’s Lubetkin Prize. Named for Berthold Lubetkin, a Georgian-born architect, the prize celebrates the work of RIBA members building outside of the UK. Zaha Hadid’s Galaxy Soho, Grimshaw’s Via Verde and Wilkinson Eyre’s Cooled Conservatories will face off for the honor; the winner of this year’s Lubetkin Prize will be announced (along with the winner of the prestigious Stirling Prize) on September 26th in London.
Angela Brady, RIBA President, said:
"The 2013 RIBA Lubetkin Prize shortlist features three exceptionally innovative projects that meet three very different urban challenges. From the blueprint for New York affordable housing and the creation of an impressive new shopping district in central Beijing to Singapore’s new sustainable gardens, these are all extremely clever solutions. These cutting-edge schemes show the leading role that architects play in delivering visionary new thinking about urban issues, and illustrate why UK creative talent has such recognition around the world."
More on the shortlisted projects after the break…
The Design Museum in London has confirmed that Zaha Hadid has purchased their original building, which they've called home since 1989, just over a year after placing a bid with a private backer. According to the Architects' Journal, Hadid will use the building to house her practice's archive as well as serve as an occasional exhibition space. "The building will give an opportunity to consolidate our archive in a single location,” she said, “and also engage in a collective dialogue by exhibiting the research and innovation of global collaborations in art, architecture and design.”
Zaha Hadid Architects worked together with design offices Kollision, CAVI and Wahlberg to create the interactive installation 'Parametric Space' for the exhibition 'Zaha Hadid - World Architecture', which is on view at the Danish Architecture Centre through September 29, 2013. The installation is a fully parametric space that reacts to the visitors' movements by changing shape and expression. Learn more after the break.
Opening Friday, June 28, the Zaha Hadid - World Architecture exhibition will be the first solo show in Copenhagen, which runs until September 29. Iraqi-British architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Zaha Hadid is one of the most sought after, admired and discussed architects in the world, and has developed this extraordinary experience in collaboration with the Danish Architecture Centre. The pre-opening talk begins on opening day at 5:00pm with Patrik Schumacher (director and senior designer at Zaha Hadid Architects), and Kent Martinussen (CEO - Danish Architecture Centre). For more information, please visit here.
The 8,500 year old Turkish city of Izmir has announced Zaha Hadid as the architect for its Expo 2020 Dubai bid. As home of the Asklepion, one of the world’s oldest hospitals whose history has played a major role in the evolution of healthcare, Izmir hopes claim the title as host of the New Routes to a Better World / Health for All themed fair over its competitors - São Paulo (Brazil), Yekaterinburg (Russia), Ayutthaya (Thailand) and Dubai (UAE).
Zaha Hadid Architects have been selected to work alongside AECOM for the design and construction the Al Wakrah Stadium and Precinct of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. The 45,000-seat stadium will be nestled within a rich cultural fabric of traditional Islamic architecture, historical buildings, distinctive mosques and archeological sites that belongs to one of the oldest inhabited areas of Qatar, just south of Doha. As noted by the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, embracing the identify of this cultural heritage will be a crucial part to the success of the stadium.
Madrid-based architect Angel Borrego Cubero of Office for Strategic Spaces (OSS) has directed and produced the first documentary focused on the tense process that characterizes an architectural competition. Appropriately titled The Competition, the film captures a fascinating account on how five world renowned architects - Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Dominique Perrault, Zaha Hadid and Norman Foster - “toil, struggle and strategize to beat the competition.” The premise is based on a nearly forgotten, 2008 competition for a new National Museum of Art of Andorra, a small Pyrenees country nestled between Spain and France, which has yet to be realized.
The Competition is expected to debut in late 2013. Updates will be available on OSS’s website and facebook.
Zaha Hadid has been announced as the winner of the 41st Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award at a ceremony in London on Monday. Now in its 41st year, the Veuve Clicquot Award was set up by the Champagne house to recognize the work of successful businesswomen worldwide, who embody their spirit of Madame Clicquot.