Simone Sagi writes…
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.
The Design Museum has dedicated two floors to this exhibition, dividing Hadid’s output into architecture and design. On arrival you are met by Swarm, a beast of a chandelier designed for Established & Sons, its presence indicates that for Zaha the worlds of design and architecture have become inseparable. On further inspection it becomes obvious that this darkened lair of a gallery is most definitely dedicated to her architecture. Despite the prolific amount of projects currently under way in her practice, it appears the lion’s share of this room has been given over to her unbuilt works. It was good to see early projects such as The Peak, Hong Kong featuring so highly. Looking at the paintings of the swimming pool and divers, one hopes that this will be Hadid’s only unbuilt aquatic center. Continuing through the gallery, everything appears larger than life. The oversized angular plinths house small sketch books, which beautiful as they are, are dwarfed by her painted homage to Russian Constructivism which dominate the walls behind them. These dynamic paintings prove a pleasant distraction from the huge and overbearing presence of the projection wall with its speedy fly through animations which I feel should come with a warning for those who suffer from travel sickness!
Moving upstairs into the day lit design room one cannot help but feel that this is home territory for the Design Museum and the display seems more at ease with itself. From car to handbag with all manner of bibelot in between, Zaha has certainly lent herself to many design ventures. However, if we need to be reminded of her roots there is a serious wealth of architectural models on display. The exhibition gives a broad view of her talents and vision but pays very little attention to her built achievements. I felt disappointed that her built projects were only paid a token lip service. There was little information provided on her design methods, her technical innovations and use of geometric play. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer in London to witness her built accomplishments first hand.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Bravo Simone !- pleased to read your review …