Zaha Hadid was a prominent and somewhat controversial Iraqi architect who passed away in March 2016.
It seems strange to talk about her in the past tense because her influence is still
being felt today in the projects she delivered and those that continue to be progressed by her practice.
Now, there are a lot of Zaha Hadid creations out there and compiling a list of the top
five was not easy. To help we imposed some pretty strict criteria. We’re only focusing
on buildings as the title suggests and they won’t have been featured on The B1M before
now. We’re also only allowing one building per country in the top five, to ensure that
we fairly recognise Hadid’s global influence.
Architecture is of course very subjective and this list is purely based on our opinions
– please don’t hate us too much.
First up is 600 Collins Street, a new mixed use tower in Melbourne’s financial district.
The 54-storey building is formed from a series of stacked vases that each relate to its various
uses; including retail units, commercial office space and residential apartments.
It’s claimed that the building uses 50% less energy than a conventional mixed use
tower of the same height. The filigreed façade form, together with solar treatment to the
glazing, reduces solar gain. There’s a grey water recycling system and a highly efficient
mechanical and electrical installation.
It was the achievement of this next building’s abstract form in such an extreme site position
that earned it a place on our list.
Sitting 2KM above sea level on Mount Kronplatz in Northern Italy, Messner Mountain Museum
was created by Italian extreme climber Reinhold Messner.
The museum’s form is intended to mirror the shards of rock and ice in the surrounding
landscape. Cast in-situ reinforced concrete canopies create openings for windows, doors
and a terrace.
Over 4,000 cubic meters of earth were excavated to enable its construction. This was then
replaced once works completed, incorporating the museum into the mountain and helping to
regulate its internal climate throughout the year.
Wangjing in north east Beijing is a hub for Chinese IT and telecommunications businesses.
Wangjing Soho is Hadid’s mixed used development consisting of three towers, the tallest of
which rises to 43-storeys. These are intended to create a cohesive anchor for the Wangjing
community, appearing as interweaving mountains that link the buildings with the landscape.
The development is accompanied by a 60,000 square metre public park, further driving
social cohesion in the district.
Hadid’s London Aquatics Centre doesn’t really need an introduction. It became a globally recognisable building
when it hosted events for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Built specifically for the games on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to the east of the
city, the building initially had larger temporary wings to give it a seating capacity of 17,500.
After London 2012 it was dramatically reduced in scale to its legacy mode and now seats
a mere 2,500 people.
The facility’s form is inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion, but the structure
proved extremely challenging to construct. The impressive roof is widely acknowledged
as a significant feat of engineering.
Taking our top spot is the breath-taking Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.
The structure – which is 8-storeys high in places – is named after the country’s
former president. It’s intended to become the primary building for Azerbaijan’s cultural
programmes and provides a large conference auditorium, gallery space and a museum.
The core structure of the building including the floorplates, stairwells and lift shafts
are formed of concrete, whilst the freeform structure is achieved with a space frame system,
clad with glass fibre reinforced concrete panels.
Welding equipment in use on the roof was responsible for the break out of a large fire in 2012.
Luckily no one was harmed in the incident and the building was repaired to its former
appearance.
The centre’s form is intended to deliberately contrast with the soviet-era architecture
of Baku and seeks to express the optimism of the Azeri nation, looking toward the future.
Notable omissions from our list of course include Antwerp Port House in Belgium which
recently featured in a B1M construction documentary, and Dongdaemun Design Plaza which was the
focus of one of our BIM case studies.
There’s also the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, arguably Hadid’s most successful project
in the UK, and Beijing Daxing International Airport in China, currently one of the world’s
largest infrastructure projects.
Let us know your favourite Zaha Hadid building in the comments or on our social media channels,
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