Zaha Hadid Lives On

Booster Blog

Zaha hadid lives on

Although she unexpectedly passed earlier this year, Zaha Hadid continues to inspire millions through her expressed imagination.

Projects

Her creative spirit lives on through the landmarks she is quite literally placing around the globe. One such land mark has recently been inaugurated at the harbour in Antwerp. Described as a “Diamond ship”, Porthouse is one of Hadid’s most ambitious creations to date. A rippling glass structure straddles over the former fire station that is now the headquarters of the port authorities. Triangular facets create patterns that reflect over the water of the port.

This project is at the beginning of a very long posthumous career to come. There are nearly 50 more structures in the pipeline to be orchestrated from Zaha’s designs – that’s as many as were realized in her lifetime!

Another one of Hadid’s designs soon to be completed is the Nanjing International Youth Culture Center in the eastern province of Jiangsu, China.

It’s made up of two sleek skyscrapers, one 1,030 feet and the other 837 feet, connected to a broad, five-story podium. The skyscrapers are clad in glass, but merge with the concrete of the lower

building in a fluid motion. This merging of shapes and materials fits perfectly with the mixed functionality of the building. The contrast in shape is also serving as a transition from the verticality of the city’s central business district to the horizontal topography of the adjacent river.

Exhibitions

To further serve her memory a traveling exhibition will be showing glimpses of her rarely seen note-pads and sketch books. The venues will include structures that she designed, spanning across the globe. It will start at London’s Serpentine Galleries and move through cities such as Rome and perhaps in Seoul, South Korea.

Story has it that Serpentine’s artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist, convinced Zaha Hadid to share her work after seeing her present some of her personal sketches during a lecture. A week after Hadid agreed to share her raw design procedures, she passed away. The show will open on December 8 and will share rare insights into the late architect’s creative process.

Zaha’s influence is as strong as ever, as she continues to educate and inspire, as well as changing city skylines around the world.