Aug 22nd, 2007
Last year Wallpaper* celebrated its 10th anniversary, and in time-honoured fashion we wanted our favourite figures, from the many disciplines covered by the magazine’s content, to share in our celebrations. It goes without saying that Zaha featured prominently, embodying as she does the same driving principles that we pride ourselves on. Zaha’s contribution to our 10th year celebrations was two-fold. She was one of the 10 artists we approached to design a limited edition cover, and she was also chosen by Karl Lagerfeld as his architectural hero in our gargantuan ‘Power Couples’ feature for Wallpaper* 092 last October. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Contributors, News by Tony Chambers | 4 Comments »
Aug 21st, 2007
The Design Museum will be open until 10pm this Friday 24 August.
We call our late opening Design Overtime and it provides an opportunity to view Design Museum exhibitions until 10pm, but also encourages you to participate through workshops, activities and debates. Always fun, often serious, and sometimes spectacular, the theme for the August Design Overtime is a night of protest and song.
Do you have an opinion about design? Then come to the Design Museum to voice it. If you have no opinion then come and formulate one!
Join us from 6pm for Design Overtime. Entrance to exhibitions only £5! Activities are included and optional. Last admission 9.15pm.
Posted in News by Josephine Gaffikin | 1 Comment »
Aug 17th, 2007
Urban Nebula is a sculptural installation that explores the potential of pre-cast concrete as a medium for repetitive and fluid form.
Urban Nebula is one half of Size + Matter, a project by Zaha Hadid and Amanda Levete for the London Design Festival. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Projects, News by Josephine Gaffikin | 2 Comments »
Aug 14th, 2007
The Grand Finale of our Build it Like Zaha workshops took place on 29 July.
The workshop was heaving! Book now for our August workshops Beach Life and Carnival Crazy on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in kids' activities, News by Komal Khetia | Comments Off
Aug 13th, 2007
Its great to see the museum so busy, and to see that architecture really does have the power to hook people who are not already converts. The Hadid wall of fly through images of the completed buildings has the audience transfixed by the scale of what she is building, and you can hear a constant stream of people go wow! when they first catch sight of the darkened first floor, and the chandelier. We have a constant stream of high profile visitors to show around.
James Purnell, the new culture minister came in for an hour during his first week in his new job, which certainly says a lot about the architectural literacy of the Brown government.
Posted in Contributors, News by Deyan Sudjic | 1 Comment »
Aug 7th, 2007
In 1977 a starchitect was born. 30 years may have passed since Zaha Hadid graduated from The Architectural Association, yet her presence remains an integral part of AA culture. In 2006 the AA Gallery hosted an exhibition celebrating the technical achievements of Hadid’s newly opened Phaeno Science Center. The private view was witness to the architectural equivalent of Beatlemania, crowds filling every inch of 36 Bedford Square hoping to catch a glimpse of the lady herself, when she lectured the following week a student fainted. Zaha it would seem has become as iconic as her buildings.
Having worked on the AA exhibition, I was keen to see what The Design Museum had produced. Staging architectural shows is always challenging. The built environment, immobile by nature, leaves the curator the task of transporting the building or at least the experience of the building to the gallery and its audience in some other way. Zaha Hadid Architects has a prolific catalogue of built works and projects in the pipeline; this exhibition has clearly cast an unenviable curatorial gauntlet.
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Posted in Reviews by Simone Sagi | 1 Comment »
Aug 5th, 2007
This model of the forthcoming Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre is probably the most spectacular of all the models in the show. Architecturally the project - which was announced earlier this year - marks a new direction for Hadid, with the building’s forms being variously described as resembling an internal organ or a pair of mating lizards.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Exhibition highlights, Photos of the show, Projects by Marcus Fairs | 9 Comments »
Aug 5th, 2007
What do you think of the Zaha Hadid exhibition? If you visit the museum you can add your comments to this blog at the special blog station on the second floor. A bank of computers have been set up so you can record your impressions. Or you can simply scroll to the bottom of any story on this blog and add your comment that way.
Here are a selection of comments we’ve had on the blog so far:
Durendran says: “Zaha, your design mesmorises me. its looks so sexy and elegant… actually there is no words to discribe it… its just making me more inspired by your design….”
Gary says: “yeh man ! Loving the car… looks a bit like a smart car! buffff!”
Fernando Caruso says: “It is very good but is it road legal?”
B. Dhaliwal says: “We had a fantastic day out at the Design Museum. The workshops very interesting and the staff were very friendly and enthusiatic with their work. Most amazing resources to work with. I would recommend this to any parent.”
Aline Chahine says: “well it is really great to see kids already envolved in design and crafts, but i would like to ask Mrs Hadid- to maybe enlarge her activities especially workshops here in the middle east, beirut for example, it would be great to see lebanese youngsters learn and work on some of the great Zaha…”
Lindsay Groom says: “This exhibition was disappointing because the architectural exhibits give no indication of the function of the buildings. Architecture is about form and function. We see the form here but we have no clues to the function. How then can we judge how well the design is going to work? We can only make a judgement on how we like the shapes she uses. A less minimalist approach to labelling exhibits would be helpful.”
Becky says: “I go to JRCS in Dagenham, Essex. We came to the design museum on a trip and we have enjoyed immensley.”
Chelsey says: “i came with a school (elliott) and i think that the museum is great but a little boring for kids”
Jade says: “lovin the chairs and the chandeliere…”
JDT says: “She always says she’ll text me but she never does.”
harriet is cool says: “I HAD A WELL GOOD TIME INIT…. I ESPECIALLY ENJOYED YOUR TOILET FACILITIES WELL GOOD MATE!!!!”
Posted in News by Marcus Fairs | 9 Comments »
Aug 1st, 2007
Zaha’s Vortexx chandelier has proven to be one of the most popular exhibits in the show. It was designed in 2005 for Italian lighting brand Sawaya & Moroni and represents an “infinite ribbon of light”. The exhibition text says: “The curved lines conjure up a double helix that appears to flow in perpetual motion. The chandelier is made from fibreglass and acrylic, finished in car paint with a recessed LED light source by Zumtobel.” The chandelier’s lighting technology is by Zumtobel of Austria. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Exhibition highlights, Photos of the show by Marcus Fairs | 12 Comments »
