Acclaimed architects and design commentators reflect on the cities, eras, inventions and trends that have inspired them.
The internationally renowned founding partner of Zaha Hadid Architects was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004. Hadid’s work over the past three decades was the focus of a 2006 retrospective exhibition at New York’s Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and featured at the Design Museum in London in 2007. Most recent commissions include Chanel’s Mobile Contemporary Art Containers in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion in Spain.
The city that provides endless inspiration for an architect… One of my favourite places is Istanbul – you feel the mixture of East and West and it floats on a beautiful landscape. It is like a fantastic Mediterranean collage. I like hybrid cities along great rivers and harbours; they remind me of the Baghdad of my youth.
The precinct with the most notable examples of fine architecture… I fell in love with how complex Istanbul is. There are so many rich layers – you never know what to expect around the next corner. I often visited with my family when I was young and I try to visit at least once a year now. Old Istanbul on the Golden Horn explodes with so many textures. Here you have the Grand Bazaar, Süleymaniye Mosque, the Hagia Sophia Mosque and the Basilica Cistern.
The holiday that rejuvenates creativity…We used to take along picnics for trips to the ruins of Samarra, in the Garden of Eden, where the Tigris and Euphrates meet in southern Iraq; it is timeless. You know 10,000 years ago, it was like that. There was this amazing flow between the land, water and wildlife that extended to incorporate the buildings and people. I think that perhaps I am trying to capture that seamlessness and flow in an urban architectural context.
Most useful design trend of the past decade…Computing that encourages more complex geometry is very exciting. The next step is more advanced materials and fabrication. We live in interesting times. Ten years ago, when we were working on the Phaeno Science Centre in Germany, the software used to analyse the structural performance of a building was just evolving. It had to be split into 40,000 pieces on computer to understand how each part of its structure behaved. Before that, to design and construct such a building simply wasn’t feasible.
The period that most chimes with you… The 1960s. As in so many places in the developing world at the time, there was an unbroken belief in progress and a great sense of optimism. Looking back to the ’60s, it was a time of nation building. There was emphasis on architecture, not only in the Arab world, but if you think of Chicago and Brazil it was a similar moment to now… pride in the structure of the city. The ideas of change, liberation and freedom were critical to my development. My father’s generation was sent abroad – he went to the London School of Economics to study under Laskian and Fabian. There was an incredible moment of social reform everywhere. This ideology was important to me. We travelled widely. These things have an impact on you – one’s education is important in any world.
Image: Zaha Hadid's
Stone Towers, Cairo
Image: Hagia Sophia,
IstanbulSource:
Qantas The Australian Way July 2009