Authored by Omar Al Khatib*
Abstract
Zaha Hadid is distinguished in the field of architecture engineering; she completed many projects with unique architectural design and won many awards for her architectural achievements and engineering designs. She also worked as a visiting professor at a number of prestigious American and European universities such as Harvard, Yale, Ohio State University, and University of Hamburg. These achievements have been accomplished by the tireless efforts of hard work and diligence through many stations and challenges–all of which have played an influential and formative role in the development of her architectural talent and acquired her a world-wide reputation, as she is ranked one of the 100 most influential women in the world. This study presents an overview of Zaha’s architectural design philosophy and concepts, and a consideration of the relationship between architectural form and the supporting structural system.
Keywords: Zaha hadid architectural philosophy; Deconstruction architecture; Suprematist forms; Topographic forms; Water forms; Organic forms; Parametric forms; Structural forms
Introduction
Zaha Hadid was an architect who was born in Iraq and studied at one of the oldest architectural colleges in the United Kingdom. She specialized in several schools of thought in architecture, especially in the art of Supremacy or Suprematism1 which is an abstract art form founded by the Russian painter Kazimir Malevitch. Zaha had also been influenced by the architectural style that emerged in the early 1980s, i.e., Deconstructivism or Deconstruction architecture. Zaha integrated the art of supremacy with deconstruction architecture to create a new and unique architectural style, which is represented in five architectural patterns: the Supermatisit or Deconstructivist; the topographical; the style of architectural designs with water forms; the architectural style with organic shapes; and the borderline design style or the Parametric Architectural form. Zaha accomplished more than 208 projects in many countries of the world and has completed many projects with distinctive and unusual architectural design; she had also received many awards for architectural achievements and engineering designs. One of the highlights of Zaha’s awards came from the Japan Art Society, earning an honorary doctorate from the American University of Beirut, and the Stirling Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also awarded her the title “Artist for Peace.” Further, she worked as a visiting professor at a number of prestigious American and European universities such as Harvard, Yale, Ohio State, and the University of Hamburg. These achievements have been accomplished through the tireless efforts of hard work and diligence via many stations and challenges. This study presents a brief overview of Zaha Hadid’s architecture, which includes her study, the development of her architectural talent, and the most important design styles, and engineering achievements which have ranked her as one of the 100 most influential women in the world.
Zaha’s academic development
Zaha Mohammed Hussein Hadid Al-Lahibi was born in Baghdad on October 31, 1950. She was the daughter of the former Iraqi finance minister, Mohammed Hadid, in the government of Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim, who seized power after the coup in 1958. His political career ended when the Baath Party took over in 1963. Zaha Hadid’s professional roadmap was rich in important accomplishments and valuable contributions. She began her educational career by joining the National Nuns School in Baghdad, where she received her primary and secondary education. This period had a distinctive effect in developing her personality, talent, and cultural diversity. She studied at a time when the Iraqi capital was a progressive and international city in which many new ideas and different cultural experiences were shared. When she was 16 years old, she was sent to internal schools in England and Switzerland. Her two brothers, Foulath and Haytham, who were 16 years older, had attended Cambridge University in London, and Zaha spent time with them there. Since the age of 12, Zaha aspired to become an architect, but she was not inclined to join Cambridge University and had hoped to go to the American University of Beirut. In 1968, she joined the American University for the study of mathematics and did not want to study architecture, as this program section was within the faculty of engineering, and she did not enjoy being the only female student among the groups of male students.
Conceptual architecture development
In 1971, Zaha graduated with a Bachelor of Mathematics from the American University of Beirut and then moved to London in 1972 to join the Architectural Society College, where a friend of her brother, Foulath, suggested enrolling in this college as the only place to study architecture in the United Kingdom. The Architectural Association is the oldest independent architectural college in the UK. Students in this institution are closely associated with faculty members and lecturers to the extent where they are encouraged to discuss their ideas with their professors and to defend their ideas and designs through scientific discussion and dialogue held in public. Zaha arrived in the British capital at a time when public confidence in engineering achievements was at its lowest level. This was the result of many unsuccessful experiences in various urban planning and public housing projects that were expected to be completed in the 1960s. Therefore, there was a belief among architects that architecture can be renewed or revitalized by revisiting the ideas of the past, which can be reproduced and improved using modern technology or search in the past about what modern architecture may have left behind or not given attention and can be developed to suit the age. This was the atmosphere in the College of the Architectural Association and evidenced by the adoption of its professors to several schools of thought in architecture [1]. Zaha studied in the Architectural League; in fact, part of her work on the Russian art movement is related to the pioneering of Suprematism, which is an abstract art founded by the Russian painter Kazimir Malibsch. This art is characterized by simple geometrical shapes such as squares or rectangles with some curved lines of strong colors. Malibsch expressed his goal of drawing to the purest level away from the principle of traditional simulation to the pure and abstract non-objective art (or none analogical art) and hence shows the importance of his famous painting Black Square, which is considered the most abstract stage. By the early 1930s, and, according to Stalin’s art policy, abstractionist artist such as Malevich were considered bourgeois because their works did not reflect social reality and class struggle, and Malibsch’s works were prohibited from being presented to people [1]. Zaha was influenced by her study of the abstract art of Malibsch, which enabled her creativity to emerge in architectural designs without borders and gave her a way to study how the intersection of lines and the way the lines change and deviate when followed through the lines of the building that pass through the areas of light and shadow. In the early 1980s, Deconstructivism2 emerged as a new architectural design. It is assumed that the emergence and establishment of Deconstruction Architecture dates back to the Architectural Society of London, when a number of architects specializing in this architectural direction graduated from this college [1]. Deconstruction Architecture was a practical application of the Deconstructionist movement of the 1960s, based on the ideas of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. “The literary texts can be read in different ways, and it is absurd to believe that there will be only one way to understand them.” Similarly, the whole view of the architectural design is less important than when viewed as the parts. Therefore, when looking at the architectural design as a whole, it reflects one content, but, when fragmented, each part reflects its own content. Therefore, the building as an architectural design can be taken as parts and fragments. And the elements of any traditional architectural design can be taken individually, separated from one another, or removed from the design so that the remaining parts of the design appear to have been collected in a random manner [2]. Deconstruction Architecture tends to develop designs that create excitement and suspense by creating a sense of thrill and uncertainty both inside the building and between the building and its external context or by changing the relationship between the exterior shape of the building and its interior context [3]. These designs often weaken the harmony within the building and the sense of unity and stability expected [4]. Deconstruction Architecture in some respects is characterized by crumbling or fragmentation. This fragmentation or disassembly means the architectural design of buildings can be formed using simple geometric shapes with modern materials that mimic modern time and more freedom in using colors [2]. The fragmentation of this type of architecture would create a feeling of confusion and uncertainty, which raises questions about the form of a building, or the significance of geometric shapes used in its architectural design. This can be understood from the design of building surfaces, which are often formed of uneven lines and do not follow the usual or apparent structural system of such structures. In general, it can be said that Deconstruction Architecture is somewhat inconsistent with modern architecture and its rational rules, especially with respect to the architectural law, which is based on the shape the building that follows or is determined by its function or the common tradition known as “form follows function,” where the architects of Deconstruction attempt to move the architecture away from what it was commonly practiced; thus, it is still understood that the shape of the building is determined by its function to a level that focuses only on the exterior surface of the building. Shown in Figure 1, the Beco Complex project in Belgrade, Serbia, is an architectural form that stimulates the senses of confusion and uncertainty and demonstrates Zaha’s view of architectural fragmentation. Erosion, twisting and folding, and layering are the attributes of this design technique theme (Figure 1).
Technical and technological development has played an important role in the evolution of Deconstruction Architecture, where computers have become essential tools in architecture in general and in Deconstruction Architecture in particular. In addition, it has become possible to use three-dimensional drawing programs to embody the most complex geometric shapes and to understand how to better use the interior space of the building. Zaha represented her architectural style with five unique architectural styles, patterns or forms that are complex and eye-catching in a superior style: suprematist forms; the pattern of aquatic shapes; the pattern of topographical forms; the pattern of organic shapes; and the parametric forms or borderline architectural design. These patterns were generally inspired by forms and shapes of nature, physical changes in shapes, or by the development of architectural ideas in ancient architectural schools. In the subsequent sections, the article discusses each pattern and provides an example of some completed projects.
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