These days, like never before, Milan Design Week finds itself as a creative focal point for a number of different industries, not just furniture and interiors. The irresistible draw of pure, concentrated creativity – and the eyes, lenses and social media accounts of the world’s media and content creators – ensure that making a Milanese splash is a PR no-brainer, bolstering the connection between creativity and commerce in as direct a way as possible.

Activations varied wildly, from traditional car reveals through to immersive experiences, bespoke commissions and the welcome opportunity for car makers to spread their reach and showcase some real cultural clout. Big names were in evidence – Audi enlisted Zaha Hadid Architects and Mini continued its long-running partnership with Sir Paul Smith.

Chinese brands were also in evidence, including Nio with its firefly city car, and Lepas, which used Milan Design Week as the backdrop for its European launch of the forthcoming Lepas 6, a sister car to the Jaecoo 7.

Admittedly, some of these displays could have taken place anywhere, demonstrating how Milan Design Week has effectively become a handy waypoint on the international exhibition trail, bolstering the role of a traditional auto show with way more buzzy, creative surroundings and attendees. Other brands chose to dig deeper into the context, playing up the Italian connection and the city’s rich backdrop.

We’re biased, of course, but the real automotive stars of Milan Design Week 2026 were Wallpaper’s quartet of Fiat Topolinos (see our editors’ Milan blog for more, and Fiat’s small car-focused exhibition), resplendent in the liveries of our recently relaunched Wallpaper* Travel Guides. Aside from these delightful four-wheeled tchotchkes, read on to find out what else made mobility news this year in Milan.

Range Rover ‘Traces’

Range Rover’s Milan installation at Galleria Meravigli was a comprehensive assemblage of the art and craft component of the British manufacturer’s more luxurious offerings. Overseen by Storey Studio, the ‘Traces’ exhibition starred the newly released Bespoke Pearl of Tay edition Range Rover, alongside a selection of contemporary Scottish crafts curated by Bard, the Edinburgh store and gallery founded by James Stevens and our very own Hugo Macdonald.

Bard’s selection of sparkling, earthy and authentic crafts was billed under the heading ‘Memory and Material'. The pieces on display mirrored the attention to detail and materiality used in the Pearl of Tay car, a demonstration of Range Rover’s ability to move freely in the same rarefied circles traditionally occupied by Rolls-Royce and Bentley.

These were joined by two more galleries, or chapters, ‘Memory and Colour’ and ‘Memory and Motif’. The former incorporated a film and projection by Felipe Sanguinetti, reflected across a series of mirrors, to trace the inspiration and emotion behind colour choices (one of the big USPs for clients using Range Rover’s Bespoke service).

‘Memory and Motif’ featured works by four artists, Hvass & Hannibal, Lisa Rampilli, Petra Börner and Jules Julien, transformed into embroidered pieces by the Range Rover Bespoke Materiality. These were then presented in a series of champagne-gold mirrored vitrines, connected to the first chapter by a continuous soundscape composed by sound designers Father.

The final space, ‘Memory and Material’, culminated in the Pearl of Tay car, alongside the 14 objects chosen by Bard. With black gravel underfoot and a rippling installation above, the space was both geometric and nature-inspired. This is the second consecutive year Range Rover has gone big in Milan. ‘Traces’ also included a café space, furnished with icons from Gubi’s collection of contemporary design.

RangeRover.com, @RangeRover

‘Origin’ by Audi x Zaha Hadid Architects

Are we living in a post-pavilion age? Audi clearly thinks not, enlisting well-established pavilion-wielding provocateurs Zaha Hadid Architects to create its installation, the ‘Audi Origin Pavilion’. Described as a portal to the company’s new design era, ‘Origin by Audi x Zaha Hadid Architects’ marked the German manufacturer’s 13th year of participation at Milan Design Week and celebrated not just the introduction of a new design language but also the company’s debut in Formula 1.

The structure was a classic slice of ZHA parametric whimsy – the practice uses the pavilion form as a testbed for software, design and structure. Located in the courtyard of the former Archiepiscopal Seminary on Corso Venezia, ‘Origin’ was a silvery spaceship of a structure, flanked by the Audi R26 F1 car and the new Audi RS 5. The structure’s matte metallic skin was very ‘Audi’ in its referencing of industrial processes, cutting-edge materials and sober perfectionism.

Audi.com, @Audi

‘Mini: A Garden of Curiosity with Paul Smith’

Moving away its focus on urban and domestic design prototypes, Mini dived straight into its most warm and welcoming collaboration of recent years, a partnership with Paul Smith. The venue was a ‘Garden of Curiosity’, hosted in the grounds on the Palazzo Borromeo d’Adda.

Not just a welcome contemplative spot to duck into away from the Milan madness, the ‘Garden of Curiosity’ was a spot of British whimsy, with delectable design presented by way of Lewis Carroll, Gertrude Jekyll and impeccable tailoring.

The House of Mini on Via A Manzoni was built around the latest Paul Smith Edition of the evergreen city car. Colour was, of course, preeminent, with a dedicated Colour Theory Room inviting visitors to compose their own Smith-style panoply of stripes.

There was also a listening room, replete with recordings of Sir Paul’s thoughts on colour theory, both set among the verdant surroundings alongside a Mini Cooper Convertible Paul Smith Edition. In the main courtyard, the automotive display consisted of three cars, starting with the original Paul Smith 40th Anniversary Mini classic from 1998, the pared-back Mini Strip and another contemporary Paul Smith Edition.

Mini.co.uk, @Mini

PaulSmith.com, @PaulSmithDesign

Lexus ‘Space’

Another Milan stalwart, Lexus presented a clutch of installations, including its own ‘Space’ and ‘Discover Together’ presentations at Superstudio Più. The automotive centrepiece of ‘Space’ was the six-wheeled Lexus LS Concept, set before a 360-degree screen that animated the car and its sumptuous interior.

This cinematic experience was paired with a group exhibition under the banner ‘Discover Together’. Included was the ‘Visible Invisible’ tearoom by Kyotaro Hayashi and Yumi Kurotani, ‘Wearable Space’, a coat emblazoned with fibre optics shaped by Guardini Ciuffreda Studio and ‘A Moving Sanctuary’, Random Studio’s reimagining of the automotive space as a serene, relaxing retreat.

Working with its own design team, the company also exhibited ‘The Crafted Cosmos’, a precision piece of crafted woodwork overseen by Shingo Yamashita, the company’s wooden model craftsman.

On display in the same space was another concept, the LS Micro 1 personal mobility machine, and the Lexus Catamaran autonomous luxury yacht concept first shown at last year’s Japan Mobility Show.

DiscoverLexus.com, @DiscoverLexus

Kia Vision Meta Turismo

Kia’s installation involved a collaboration with Bcomp, a Swiss company working in renewable, bio-based fibre composite material. Bcomp has contributed its ampliTex material to the interior and exterior of the Kia Vision Meta Turismo concept car, on show for the first time in Europe as part of the ‘Resonance of Opposites’ exhibition in Milan.

The Vision Meta Turismo was originally unveiled as part of Kia's 80th anniversary celebrations last December, an all-electric GT Crossover with an airy, lounge-inspired cabin replete augmented-reality windscreen. The concept foreshadows the evolution of the company’s already very distinctive design language.

The work with Bcomp is part of Kia’s ongoing search for sustainably sourced materials that can work just as well on exterior forms as well as interiors, conforming to all necessary safety and strength requirements.

According to Bcomp’s Nicolas Samson, senior sales manager of automotive interior, the project ‘shows that natural fibre composites are not only a design statement, but also a realistic solution for both interior and exterior applications’.

Kia.com, @KiaUK

Bcomp.com, @BcompLtd

Škoda’s ‘Sculptural Space’

Working with Spanish architect designer Ricardo Orts of Ulises Studio, Škoda went all out on playfulness with an exhibition entitled ‘Ooooh, that’s EpiQ!’. Rather than channelling the spirit of 1970s British sex comedies, the theme was colour, form and family-friendly entertainment.

Cars on display included the new Epiq EV (in bold camouflage) alongside a soft-bodied counterpart, the Epiq Sculpt – modelling clay was one of the key stylistic themes. The entire courtyard of the Palazzo del Senato was filled with illuminated inflatable forms that spilled out through the colonnades to create space for meeting, coffee, talks and even yoga classes and a soft play area.

Škoda-Storyboard.com, Škoda.co.uk, @SkodaUK

Ulises.Studio, @Ulises.Studio

Pininfarina at ‘10 Years of Open-Air Motor Shows’

Two of the centrepieces on the ‘10 Years of Open-Air Motor Shows’ exhibition on Via Tortona came from the studios of Pininfarina SpA. The event, which celebrated a decade of Andrea Levy’s urban motor show format in Italy, featured the Battista Nino Farina from Pininfarina Automobili and the one-off Honda HP X, originally shown at the 1984 Turin Auto Show in 1984. Restored and updated by Pininfarina itself, the HP-X resurfaced in all its 1980s glory at the 2024 Monterey Car Week.

The show also featured a presentation on the new JAS Tensei project, one of many automotive commissions being undertaken by the Italian design consultancy.

Pininfarina.it, @Pininfarina_official

500 Spiaggina by Garage Italia Customs

Away from the ‘Ciao Futuro! show at Magna Pars’, another facet of the Fiat empire showcased its latest venture into restomod design. Founded by Fiat family scion Lapo Elkann, Garage Italia Customs ventures into uncharted creative territory, transforming the company’s compact models into bespoke objets d’art.

For 2026, Garage Italia is showcasing its Icon project series, which focuses on the classic Fiat 500. In the company’s hands, the original 500 becomes the all-electric 500 Spiaggina. Shown in Milan in the context of the immersive Urbano Mediterraneo installation, the Spiaggina was represented in two editions. The first was inspired by the pink walls of the Palazzo Avino hotel on the Amalfi Coast, a one-off EV completed with custom fabric Pergola roof by Mariaflora.

A second Spiaggina was out on the streets for the duration of Design Week to celebrate the work of Milanese creative consultancy 10 Corso Como. The logo-spotted bodywork evokes the organisation’s branding and HQ, with jacquard fabric interiors by Mariaflora. Finally, Garage Italia also showed a 500 Spiaggina with a livery that embodied the diversity and colour of Design Week, with a white striped exterior and an interior featuring red Bonacina rattan seats.

Garage-Italia.com, @GarageItalia

When Zaha Hadid died unexpectedly in 2016, she left behind one of the most recognised names in the architectural profession.

Who, precisely, gets to use that name today, however, has been the subject of a lengthy legal battle between her eponymous architecture firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, and the charitable organisation dedicated to preserving her legacy, the Zaha Hadid Foundation.

The legal stand-off concerns the intricacies of a 2013 contract, which established Hadid as the licensor (and therefore, the owner of her trademark), and her architecture firm as the licensee. The terms of the contract stipulated that, in exchange for using Hadid’s name, the firm would have to pay a royalty of six per cent of its net annual income ‘indefinitely.’ After Hadid’s death, though, the rights to her trademark shifted to the Foundation.

Zaha Hadid Architects, in a suit brought against the Foundation in 2024, sought to renegotiate the terms of that contract, arguing, according to legal filings, that the six per cent license fee was ‘too high’ and that ‘it has the right to terminate the contract on reasonable notice.’ The case was ultimately dismissed.

But Zaha Hadid Architects appealed the decision on multiple grounds, including that the contract was restricting the firm’s ability to conduct business. On 27 February, a London appeals court ruled in favour of the architecture firm, allowing it to end the terms of a licensing agreement with the Foundation.

What happens next remains to be seen. According to the court filing, the architecture firm ‘wishes to continue to use the name Zaha Hadid.’ The firm also dispelled rumours of financial difficulties, noting in a statement shared with Wallpaper* that it has experienced ‘many consecutive years of record growth’ and has ‘health cash reserves.’

‘The practice will now engage in constructive discussions with the Foundation about an updated licence,’ the statement said, and ‘continue to honour Zaha Hadid’s legacy built over decades in developing acclaimed architecture across six continents.’

Changes to the licensing fee structure, though, could impact the Foundation’s operating budget and programmes, such as a scholarship for young architects.

A spokesperson for the Foundation said that it was ‘considering its options.’

Not A Hotel, the irreverent brand behind architectural showpieces in Tokyo, Rusutsu and Ishigaki Island (and a 2023 Wallpaper* Design Award winner) is charting a bold new course. Its latest ventures, Heritage and Vertex, take hospitality in two different directions: Heritage by Not A Hotel reimagines landmarks – temples, museums and cultural sites – through a contemporary lens, while Vertex by Not A Hotel explores the fusion of avant-garde architecture, design and technology.

For the debut Vertex property, only one architecture firm could bring such a vision to life: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). The late Zaha Hadid, lauded as ‘the queen of curves’, left a legacy of fluid, futuristic forms, and that signature is unmistakable here. The hotel will be located in Okinawa, Japan, where renderings show a bold architectural statement set against the island’s turquoise waters, white sand beaches and lush subtropical forests.

Despite its striking appearance, the 25,322 sq m building has been designed to integrate into its sensitive coastal environment. Every aspect – from engineering and site planning to material selection and construction – prioritises minimising ecological impact on Okinawa’s ecosystems.

​​The site sits atop Ryukyu limestone formations – Pleistocene coral reef sediments over 400,000 years old – and is subject to strict regulations from environmental authorities. In order to minimise its footprint, the hotel will appear to ‘float’ above the interface between forest and beach, with terraces, gardens and courtyards that trace the natural contours of the land and echo its rock formations.

The building design also responds to Okinawa’s tropical climate. Year-round digital mapping of temperature, humidity, rainfall, winds, solar exposure and sea conditions shaped the hotel’s orientation and form. Its cascading canopies will provide shaded outdoor spaces and reduce heat gain, referencing the deep eaves and overhangs of traditional Okinawan architecture. The structure will also capture the island’s Kāchibē winds for natural ventilation, and its elevation – 6.5m above the high-water mark – protects against typhoons, storm surges and seismic activity.

Construction will combine modular, prefabricated components with finishes that reflect the colour and texture of local coral sands, incorporating recycled materials from decommissioned island structures. Locally sourced Okinawa pine, quarried limestone and regionally produced ceramics will further embed the building within its cultural and material context.

The result is a visually striking, ecologically sensitive and resilient property – a bold inaugural statement for Not A Hotel that will resonate with architecture aficionados and off-beat travellers alike.

Febal Casa has collaborated with Zaha Hadid Architects on a smooth and contemporary collection. Titled ‘Onda’, it comprises a kitchen island and sideboard, a perfect addition to a minimal, and modern home. The collection is visually tactile through the use of materiality, with the kitchen island and sideboard taking on a sculptural form and playing with spatial perception.

Febal Casa and Zaha Hadid Architects' Onda collection

The inspiration behind the collection comes from the sea, more specifically the geology of coastlines, eroded rock formations and the intricate striations that are then imprinted after being continuously knocked by waves. The essence of this is transplanted into the design language, where the result is an equilibrium between a darker colour palette and light and bright detailing.

The Onda Island is designed to be a centrepiece within a kitchen space. The length is customisable, while the depth is fixed. It is crafted with an aluminium frame, and smooth glass doors with a metal effect, colours vary from ‘Bronze’ to ‘Champagne’. There are options of having an integrated hob, with hood and sink, along with modules that can house drawers, trays, and pull-out trays.

The Onda Sideboard, also crafted with an aluminium frame and similar finishing, is defined by a balanced structure and harmonious proportions. Onda and Metal Iridio Onda is an internal structure designed for this collection to create a brighter storage space, due to the extra-clear glass shelves. This break in materiality welcomes a visual lightness to both pieces, and nods to the glassy surfaces of the sea.

The collection is an example of a contemporary interpretation of the dialogue between nature and design. This is rooted in a lot of Febal Casa’s pieces, which are informed by the Adriatic Riviera. ‘What we love about this project is realising the dream which designers and artists had for a long time: to recreate the subtle beauty of nature,’ shared Zaha Hadid Architects’s principal, Patrik Schumacher.

The collaboration between the Italian kitchen company and globally renowned architecture firm marks a matrimony between Italian design and architectural avant-garde, both of which welcome aesthetic beauty and modernity. This collection is an example of transforming nature’s inspirations into considered, contemporary pieces.

zaha-hadid.com

• See more modern kitchen ideas for 2026

The Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF), in collaboration with the American University of Beirut (AUB), has announced the launch of the Zaha Hadid Scholars Program. Set to commence in September 2025, the initiative honours the legacy of the late Dame Zaha Hadid, who founded her architecture practice in 1980 and was committed to supporting aspiring architects throughout her life and career.

Over the next three years, the Zaha Hadid Scholars Program will fully fund two architecture students (selected on the basis of both need and merit) annually, for the duration of their undergraduate studies at AUB’s Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, as well as providing additional forms of support.

Speaking about the partnership, AUB president Fadlo Khuri said: ‘The visionary work of Zaha Hadid continues to inspire current generations of students. We are very proud to partner with the ZHF on this initiative, benefiting bright and deserving architecture students at our university.’

The ZHF board of trustees also expressed its enthusiasm at being able to honour Hadid’s commitment to supporting talent at AUB, a university that held a special place in her heart – she studied mathematics here from 1968-1969, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2006. In 2014, Hadid also designed the university’s Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. ‘We are thrilled to be able to honour Zaha’s commitment to emerging and future architectural talent by supporting these students and AUB. We hope this will be just the beginning of a deepening relationship,’ the board stated.

Founded by Hadid in 2013 and formally launched in 2022, the Zaha Hadid Foundation is a charitable organisation dedicated to preserving the founder’s work, advancing public access to her archive, and promoting architectural research, education and enjoyment.

The Zaha Hadid Scholars Program marks a continuation of Hadid’s influence, not only as a venerated architect, but as a champion of education and opportunity.

The newly opened Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is located in the Greater Bay Area of the Guangming District of Shenzhen, the world’s largest metropolitan region with a population of 100 million. The museum will showcase scientific advancements, research and technologies across 35,000 sq m of exhibition halls and galleries, as well as theatres, cinemas, laboratories, educational facilities and an innovation centre.

An institution whose aim is to solidify Shenzhen's role as a leader in technological development should look the part: ZHA, the architecture firm behind some of the most futuristic-looking buildings in the world, has created a design that is both striking and advanced.

The 28,276 sq m museum looks like a spaceship, with a solid spherical volume which transitions into a series of outdoor terraces as it extends westward into the new Science Park. These serve as extensions of the interior galleries, which emerge from the floor and walls of a grand central atrium, while other spaces float above. The atrium serves as a focal point for the building, featuring a large glazed wall looking out to the park, which allows for natural light to pour in and views of the landscape.

The construction of the Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum pushed the boundaries of modern architecture. For example, the façade features dual-colour INCO technology, which creates the appearance of a celestial-feeling blue-to-grey gradient without paint.

The building is also sustainability-focused. ZHA used computer simulations to optimise the building's performance for Shenzhen's subtropical climate: the result is the use of passive environmental strategies such as orientating the building in a way that minimises solar heat gain in the atrium, or having terraces on each floor to shield the facade from direct sunlight.

Elsewhere, a system of stainless-steel panels creates a ventilated cavity between the facade and the external walls, which also incorporate photovoltaics to generate solar energy. The museum’s smart systems should reduce energy consumption significantly, and the building aims for the highest rating of China’s Green Building Evaluation Standard.

zaha-hadid.com

In partnership with Febal Casa

The low waves of the Adriatic, generated by its shifting sandy seabeds, are the inspiration for a new collection that Febal Casa has designed in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects, comprising a beautifully fluid kitchen island and accompanying sideboard.

Zaha Hadid Architects’ Patrik Schumacher and Maurizio Meossi interpreted the primordial energy of the sea to create an aesthetic for the doors of the ‘Onda’ collection in which light, shape and materials interact. ‘What we love about this project is realising the dream which designers and artists had for a long time: to recreate the subtle beauty of nature,’ says Schumacher.

The doors of the collection’s pieces feature sculpted back-painted fused glass with metal effect surfaces in a range of hues – Metal Onda, Metal Bronzo Onda, Metal Champagne Onda and Metal Iridio Onda – evoking the depth of water and its ever-changing reflections. Aluminium frames add a contemporary lightness.

The sideboard’s lacquered top and casing offer seamless continuity, while glass shelving and blade-style supports emphasise the lightness of touch.

The kitchen island – in lengths from 1,800mm to 3,600mm, with a fixed depth of 1,218mm – is a sculptural centrepiece. Textured, metallic effects contrast with the worktop, side panels and base in a choice of Febal Casa materials such as Gres, Abitum, Laminam, Neolith, Optimum and Laminate, exploring the relationship between light and matter. Rigorously designed but extremely customisable, the kitchen can include a hob, a hob with integrated hood, and a sink, as well as modules that can be equipped with drawers and baskets. Its back-painted fused glass with metal effect door is a pure design statement: a feature that does not merely define volume but reshapes the entire space, moving beyond the concept of a front panel to become an architectural element.

Having already worked with some of the world’s most notable architects, such as Daniel Libeskind, Febal Casa commissioned Zaha Hadid Architects to transform its architectural vision into a scalable product designed to integrate into different living contexts. Blending craftsmanship and advanced industrial production excellence while maintaining a balance between striking design and functionality, the ‘Onda’ pieces ‘echo the timeless coherence of nature but also celebrate Febal Casa’s heritage’, explains project director Meossi. ‘By marrying the fluid forms evident in the natural world with detailed craftsmanship, the collection embodies both contemporary innovation and historic tradition.’

febalcasa.com

In contemporary architecture, few names command more recognition than Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the firm founded by the late Zaha Hadid (1950-2016). The Iraqi-born British ‘starchitect’, known as the ‘queen of curves’, worked on major projects including the London Aquatics Centre, Rome's MAXXI Museum and the Guangzhou Opera House. She was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 2004, and was made a Dame in 2012.

ZHA is now headed by a board of directors and principal Patrik Schumacher. They are continuing the studio's legacy of working on some of the biggest, boldest and most industry-defining projects in the world, adding to the firm’s archive under Hadid’s leadership – which included projects such as the Vitra Fire Station in Germany (1990-93); the Hoenheim-North Terminus and Car Park in France (1998-2001); the Bergisel Ski Jump in Austria (1999-2002); the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in the US (1997-2003); and the BMW Central Building in Germany (2001-2005). In the early 2020s, ZHA designed a city in the metaverse where people can explore as a digital avatar and buy plots of land with cryptocurrency; the firm continues to embrace emerging technologies, working with AI and Nvidia.

ZHA has always operated at the forefront of design – a glance at its roster of upcoming buildings will reiterate that. We’ve compiled them in a dynamic list below, which will be updated as new projects are announced.

Misk Heritage Museum 'Asaan', Saudi Arabia

Construction has commenced on Asaan, the Misk Heritage Museum in Saudi Arabia. ‘Asaan’ means ‘inheritance passed down through generations’, and the institution, which is located in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered the birthplace of Saudi, will be dedicated to celebrating national heritage. Asaan aims to foster connections with this heritage through exhibitions, workshops and events, and will be integrated into the Diriyah Gate masterplan.

This will be ZHA’s first project constructed from adobe, a building material made from earth mixed with water and organic materials, informed by the local, historic Najdi architecture. The three-storey building will feature thick, insulating adobe walls, which maintain interior temperatures in the desert climate. Three shaded courtyards will also protect from the elements, as will shading devices over gardens, plazas and rooftop promenades.

Oystra, UAE

ZHA has unveiled the design of Oystra, a mixed-use development on Al Marjan Island in the United Arab Emirates. The 128,000-sq m development will feature 950 residential units alongside shopping, dining and leisure amenities.

Al Marjan Island is a man-made archipelago in Ras Al Khaima, often considered a more tranquil alternative to Dubai, but with a projected 55 per cent population increase by 2030. Oystra is being built to help meet this demand.

The development, which consists of numerous 20-storey towers, has been designed so that over 75 per cent of apartments have ocean views, with fluid geometries and large balconies. The towers are surrounded by landscaped gardens, pools and a beach club, and also feature a rooftop restaurant with an infinity pool.

Oystra will use sustainable design elements to reduce energy demand in the UAE’s arid climate, including solar shading, natural ventilation and seawater-based cooling.

Greater Bay Area Sports Centre, China

Completion for the Greater Bay Area Sports Centre is forecast for June 2025, ahead of the China National Games in November. The Guangzhou-based centre will serve as a focal point for a new civic, business and residential district, housing high-quality sports facilities.

The Greater Bay Area Sports Centre is situated within a 70-hectare park and comprises a 60,000-seat stadium, a 20,000-seat arena, and a 4,000-seat aquatics centre, as well as facilities like athlete accommodation, training pitches and running tracks.

Its architecture takes cues from sailing ships from the Song Dynasty and integrates concepts from Lingnan (Cantonese) architecture, such as natural ventilation. The roof resembles pleated fans, while the building’s vertical louvres and curvilinear forms are designed for shading and cooling. One of the most distinctive things about the design is its grand arch, which frames river views.

Cityzen Tower, Georgia

This 42-storey structure in Tbilisi is scheduled for completion in 2028. It is ZHA’s first project in Georgia, and is located in Tblisi's Saburtalo district within the new Cityzen development, which sits on the site of a former Soviet military headquarters. The 57,000 sq m Cityzen Tower will contain residential apartments, leisure amenities, workspaces, shopping and dining areas, as well as pedestrian routes and 23,000 sq m of outdoor areas, including botanical gardens, woodlands and sports facilities.

The architecture is inspired by Tbilisi’s undulating topography, and is designed as a vertical extension of the city’s Central Park. The building’s terraces cascade towards the park, providing communal outdoor spaces. At the upper levels, these terraces become smaller, diamond-shaped terraces, and then balconies. The transition creates an intriguing incremental twist in the tower’s design.

Napoli Porta Est, Italy

ZHA is currently working on a masterplan to revitalise and reconnect eastern Naples, an isolated and neglected part of the city due to the decline of its native heavy industries. Napoli Porta Est is focused on transforming the area’s derelict industrial zones, including former railway yards, into a sustainable district, home to new infrastructure and a park designed with American landscape architect Martha Schwartz. A former oil depot will also be converted into a new city quarter.

The masterplan seeks to reconnect the eastern area with Naples' historic centre, ease traffic congestion, and improve access for pedestrians. The design will prioritise green spaces, accessibility, energy efficiency and sustainability, and will be home to a new Campania Region headquarters.

Centre of Mediterranean Culture, Italy

ZHA has begun construction on the Centre of Mediterranean Culture in Reggio Calabria, which is situated on the Strait of Messina, a historic gateway between the eastern and western Mediterranean, making it, symbolically, an ideal location. The centre will serve as a civic and cultural gathering space, showcasing Calabria’s history of seafaring with permanent and temporary exhibitions, an aquarium, conference facilities and educational spaces.

The shape of the building recalls the crest of a wave. Inside, the building’s four wings lead from a double-height atrium and interior design is inspired by the sea, with coral hues and fluid designs.

A building focused on humans' relationship with the sea needs to be sustainably minded: the Centre of Mediterranean Culture deploys passive design, including a 90 per cent opaque façade with overhangs to reduce solar heat gain.

Zhejiang Shaoxing Shangyu District Cao‘e River Culture and Art Centre, China

This project is slated to be the centrepiece of a new cultural quarter in the Shangyu district of Shaoxing, a city in China's Zhejiang province. The centre will host performances ranging from opera and dance to symphonies and musical theatre.

Located on the Cao'e River, the building's design features sheltered courtyards that lead to terraced landscapes and gardens. The modern roofs draw inspiration from the traditional glazed tiles and pitched roofs of the local architecture, and the façades are also covered in tiles – a ‘contemporary articulation’ of the jade-green Celadon ceramics produced in the region.

In terms of sustainability, large sloping roofs and wide overhangs are designed for shading, while photovoltaic panels will reduce the centre's energy demand.

The Delmore, USA

The Delmore is a 12-storey ultra-luxury condominium in Miami’s ‘Billionaire’s Triangle’, marking Dubai-based developer DAMAC’s entry into the US real estate market and ZHA’s second residential foray into Miami. The oceanfront project will feature 37 ‘mansions in the sky’, with prices starting at $15 million. Construction has begun on The Delmore, with an expected completion in 2029.

The building boasts a sculptural façade with sinuous curves. Its most distinctive feature, however, is the flow-through canyon with a 75ft-long acrylic see-through pool suspended over it, 125 ft up. Staggered wraparound terraces and shell-shaped fins, meanwhile, will enhance privacy and shade.

zaha-hadid.com

In one of Zaha Hadid's final projects, she left her signature organic and flowing style on Romeo Roma, a hotel of contrast and progressive timelessness, newly opened in 2025, having taken ten years to complete. At the time of embarking on the project, a year before she died, Hadid had already made her avant-garde mark on the eternal city with MAXXI, Rome’s first public museum dedicated to contemporary creativity. For the hotel, a more intimate design prospect, she collaborated with Alfredo Romeo, founder of the Romeo Collection, whose debut property in Naples and now the Rome location pair hospitality with art, architecture, wellness, and dining.

Wallpaper* checks in at: Romeo Roma

What’s on your doorstep?

Housed within a 16th-century palazzo on Via di Ripetta, Romeo Roma sits at the heart of the Tridente district, a triangular formation of three main streets in central Rome. Exit the hotel and turn left to easily reach Piazza del Popolo and its twin Baroque churches, or head right to venture into the Centro Storico, where one can join coin tossing at Fontana di Trevi. Via del Corso’s luxury boutiques might be hard to resist, but the nearby Villa Borghese, Villa Medici and Galleria Doria Pamphilj demand full attention.

Who is behind the design?

After Romeo purchased Palazzo Capponi in 2012, the hotel group’s in-house design team began working on the building’s conversion, bringing in Hadid and her team, led by Paola Cattarin, in 2015. The discovery of an archaeological site mid-build caused delays in the project, resulting in the decade it took to complete. While the exterior showcases Renaissance architecture, the interiors diverge from the period’s coherence, prominently featuring Carrara Statuarietto and Nero Marquina marble, Makassar ebony wood and Krion by Porcelenosa.

The hotel is filled with juxtaposing details, from Hadid’s signature flowing lines to a bust of the first Roman empress, Livia Drusilla, in the lobby. The reception sees gold brass structures that shimmer against marble walls, while tree-like ramifications define the restaurant’s interiors. Elsewhere, the indoor pool with a transparent floor reveals ancient Roman ruins beneath. ‘Rome’s architectural history can be read in its masonry vaults, from the Roman, through the Renaissance and Baroque periods, into the 18th century. We took inspiration from this idea, to make a new interpretation of vaults and their intersections. All the different rooms, down to the furniture, are designed with this concept,’ shares Cattarin.

The room to book

Romeo Roma houses 74 rooms and suites that feel like a study in contrast. The two-level Fresco Suites are a palimpsest of architectural layers, showcasing restored 17th-century frescoes, ceilings of painted trompe l’oeil arches, and a layout that ebbs and flows like signature Zaha Hadid. The living area includes a bespoke fireplace and a balcony with views of Piazza del Popolo, while the bathroom is equipped with a free-standing bathtub and shower cabin with steam room and sauna. Although less futuristic in nature, The Penthouse is the top suite category and includes a private rooftop garden of 100 sq m.

For architecture buffs seeking to experience the hotel for its maker's touch, the Junior and Deluxe suites, both entry-level, are a compact take on the upper categories, but display Zaha Hadid Architects’ fingerprint across stretched and elasticised walls and details.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Described as a ‘luxury food court’, Il Cortile is the go-to for all-day Italian dining. Its indoor space is adorned with undulating ebony arches, while the tables outdoors boast the serenity of the hotel’s private garden. Soon to open will be La Terraza, a sky bar offering a selection of Krug Champagne and panoramic views. For now, the Il Bar is a sleek spot for pre- and post-dinner drinks.

Another prominent figure in the Romeo Roma mix is Monégasque chef Alain Ducasse, overseeing the hotel’s fine dining restaurant and breakfast service. Here, local ingredients meet Ducasse’s precision, yielding unexpected flavour combinations. Guests can choose between an á la carte menu or an eight-course tasting journey. Standout dishes include charred puntarelle paired with bufala cream and bottarga, Mediterranean blue lobster accompanied by turnip tops and wild myrtle, and a chocolate and coffee dessert made by Alain Ducasse Manufacture in Paris.

Where to switch off

The in-house Sisley Paris Spa unfolds across 1,000 sq m and encompasses a subterranean pool that reveals glimpses of Roman ruins, a relaxation room with a sauna and hammam, a Technogym fitness area and treatment cabins offering phyto-aromatic treatments.

The verdict

It is hard not to label Romeo Roma as an ambitious and bold project. The juxtaposition of Renaissance and ultra-modern might not be everyone’s cup of tea, as the dramatic aesthetic may feel more like a curated art piece than a welcoming retreat at times. Yet, it’s in its high-end service and amenities that the hotel becomes homelike. With its central location, Romeo Roma is certainly a new and exciting way of experiencing the eternal city.

Romeo Roma is located at Via di Ripetta, 246, 00186 Roma, Italy; theromeocollection.com

The next project on the horizon for Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been confirmed, and takes the firm founded by the late, great Zaha Hadid to China.

ZHA has revealed the preliminary design for a new cultural and arts centre, called Zhejiang Shaoxing Shangyu District Cao’e River Culture and Art Centre. It will be located in Shaoxing, a city rich in cultural heritage in China's Zhejiang province. The centre is slated to be the centrepiece of a new cultural quarter in the Shangyu district, hosting opera, theatre, dance and drama productions, and will blend cultural heritage and architectural innovation.

The building’s structure is visually-striking – described by ZHA as a ‘highly recognisable silhouette’ – with undulating, sloping roofs with wide overhangs that extend furthest and lowest on the southern elevations. The modern roofs draw inspiration from the traditional glazed tiles and pitched roofs of the local architecture. The façades are also covered in tiles, which the studio calls a ‘contemporary articulation’ of the Celadon ceramics historically produced in the region, once again integrating local artisanal elements into the modern structure.

An intriguing silhouette is created by the interconnected roofs which also provide functional benefits, namely shading over the glass façades, which keeps interiors cooler. This also contributes to the sustainable design of the space; solar panels are also integrated into the roof to reduce the centre’s reliance on external energy. Open courtyards filled with greenery wrap around the structures, allowing the interior spaces to ‘flow into terraced landscapes which surround the centre’, as well as the river.

The interior, the design shows, will include facilities for cultural activities such as dance, drama and music, comprising a 1,400-seat theatre, a museum, an art gallery, a 500-seat multifunctional hall, an arts and education centre and a conference centre. These spaces will mirror the sinuous exterior, connected by raised walkways, winding staircases and curving platforms and featuring wooden details throughout.

‘Traditional materials and innovative architecture are integrated… defining a 21st-Century cultural building with a direct connection to the region's ancient past,’ ZHA says of the project, exemplifying the firm’s commitment to creating spaces that adhere to their cultural and environmental contexts.

zaha-hadid.com

Introducing Zaha Hadid Architects’ latest project: a 37-home, ultra-luxury condo on Collins Avenue in Surfside, Miami. Each of The Delmore’s 12 floors will host no more than four residences, which average more than 7,000 sq ft in size, with penthouses starting at 10,000 sq ft. This is ZHA’s second residential project in the Miami area, and one of the firm’s select few in the US.

ZHA is working on The Delmore’s façade, which is sculptural and sinuous, choosing curves and crescents over corners – all hallmarks of Hadid’s style. It will be made from glass fibre reinforced concrete, which will mimic the sand of the beachfront. To replicate its hue and texture, ZHA architects actually collected handfuls from the nearby dunes.

The condo has a north and south wing separated by a flow-through canyon with sky views, leading from the porte-cochère to the glass-roofed lobby and out to the meditation garden (more on this later).

Apartments will have wraparound terraces, which will be staggered floor by floor to create a stepped configuration. The Delmore’s exterior will also feature a series of shell-shaped fins, ensuring privacy between residences while simultaneously providing shade.

Then, the pièce de résistance: a 75 ft swimming pool, made of see-though acrylic, is suspended 125 ft in the air across the canyon. Visible from Collins Avenue, the pool makes an impressive statement, and is the first of its kind in Miami.

'Our team was tasked with conceptualising an oceanfront development that would redefine the standard for bespoke residential in a region that has earned global acclaim for its luxury offerings,' said Chris Lepine, Director of ZHA. 'We believe that The Delmore exceeds that standard.'

Interiors will be executed by Singaporean firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA), known for its work on The OWO Residences by Raffles in London. Its expertise in dressing the finest hospitality projects is felt in the fact that each residence at The Delmore will boast entertaining and chef’s kitchens.

With completion anticipated in 2029, The Delmore will sit within Miami’s ‘Billionaire’s Triangle’, the area nestled between Indian Creek, Surfside and Bal Harbour, known for its concentration of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. The development of the area suggests that Miami is no longer only looked to for holiday homes; people are now seeking permanent, year-round homes in the city. Prices for four- to five-bedroom, fully-finished residences at The Delmore will start at $15 million, making this the most expensive condo in Miami.

The Delmore will possess all of the services and amenities that one would expect of such a project – more than 55,000 sq ft of them. There’s a 20,000 sq ft meditation garden containing cascading pools, open-air yoga spaces, a fire pit, and botanical gardens. Elsewhere, a private restaurant boasts a Michelin-starred menu.

A fitness center will feature yoga, reformer Pilates and stretching studios, while an indoor lap pool and Jacuzzi will complement the rooftop pool. Finally, a wellness spa will offer personalised programmes, as well as access to a steam room, sauna, relaxation lounge, and cold and hot plunge pools. Finally, residents of The Delmore have access to 200 ft of sandy beachfront.

The development is part of a wider investment drive from Dubai-based developer DAMAC International, which has announced that it will put $20 billion into the buildout of data centres across the American Sunbelt and Midwest. As interest and investment flows to this part of the States, we may see more Pritzker prize-winning architects such as ZHA fashioning record-breaking projects. Watch this space.

The debate about generative AI in architecture and creativity as a whole looks set to rumble on for perpetuity. Creators are divided into two camps; AI is either a tool like any other, or it is an existential threat that looks set to unravel the intangible magic of human creativity. Architecture might consider itself the mother of the Arts, but it is an intractable morass of disciplines and data. Could AI tools offer a path through the complexities of modern construction without sacrificing the visual expressionism of architectural design?

Founded by the late Zaha Hadid in 1980, ZHA has always been a pioneer in computer-aided design. Wallpaper* spoke to the studio’s Associate Director Shajay Bhooshan, a co-founder of CODE, the studio’s Computational Design Research Group, along with Lead Designer and CODE colleague Vishu Bhooshan and ZHA Director Nils Fischer, who has been at the firm for 20 years. How have machine learning, AI and CAD evolved and intersected over the years?

AI in architecture: what does the future look like?

‘We’ve done machine learning for many years for floorplate optimisation,’ says Fischer, ‘it’s what many people would consider AI.’ The studio was quick to explore the potential of early generative software, notably DALL·E, OpenAI’s text-to-image model first released in January 2021. ‘We were as excited as everyone else,’ says Fischer, ‘we’re not frightened of breaking things.’

As Instagram’s most popular architecture firm with 1.4m followers, ZHA had a massive visual archive, both public and private. One of the first AI experiments the studio undertook was to upload this dataset into Stable Diffusion, another generative artificial intelligence model. ‘Our team has been curating data sets and training models,’ Fischer explains, ‘[but they] are like a five-year-old child – they have fantastic dreams but not what you actually need.’

AI has proved an effective ‘quick and dirty’ way of creating renders and visualisations, without making any impact on the design process. As Fischer says, ‘Midjourney will not solve the issues of construction and programme.’ ‘General purpose AIs are particularly bad at understanding the interface of elements,’ he continues, ‘they have a pseudo-understanding of construction.’

While this is true of all LLMs and the way they respond to cues and questions, ZHA is committed to building tools that exploit the strengths of AI, rather than the illusions that paper over its weaknesses. ‘I think the next big thing in architecture is using language models,’ says Fischer, ‘like in coding.’ ZHA’s CAD programme of choice is Autodesk Maya, a modelling package that had its origins in cinema and animation. ‘You could theoretically use Maya data to train an AI, like a code repository,’ says Fischer, ‘[if you] create a codifiable design language for architecture, it doesn’t matter what you design – you have a language.’

What stops this kind of repository becoming practical is the vast complexity of a building. ‘The investment in detail outweighs the benefits,’ Fischer explains, ‘in automotive and aerospace you have design and fabrication under one roof – the IP is all in one bucket. Liabilities are different in construction.’

So how has ZHA’s use of AI progressed? According to Shajay Bhooshan, the gulf between the two-dimensional image and the three-dimensional model are still huge. ‘Images are a unified format – there are billions of them. They align with the way computer hardware works. 3D is different,’ he says, ‘those prerequisites are not there.’ Ultimately, ZHA is seeking to create a ‘prototype unified file format that would be the 3D equivalent of an image,’ something that could be used to train a generative AI.

ZHA is using NVIDIA’s Omniverse Platform, a modelling toolkit that speeds up the integration of 3D models with design, rendering and presentation tools, as part of its ZSPACE kit. For manufacturing, the idea of creating a ‘digital twin’ of a product or factory is standard practice. Architecture is a bit more esoteric and specialised. Vishu Bhooshan explains the NVIDIA tie-in as being ‘about getting various stakeholders to collaborate in the same file format.’ ‘It’s very rare for architecture companies to have this information available in an accessible way,’ Shajay adds.

All of this work requires number crunching on an unprecedented scale. ZHA uses NVIDIA-powered workstations containing its latest GPUs (graphical processing units), using off-the-shelf software like Unreal Engine in addition to specialist CAD programmes to create real-time visualisation as well as more complex data-heavy models. NVIDIA, which recently surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company, focuses mainly on industries like manufacturing and automotive, not comparatively small sectors like architecture. However, through its collaboration with ZHA, Omniverse’s abilities have expanded.

The first physical application of the tools is on ZHA’s Nansha Sports Complex in Guangzhou, a 60,000-capacity stadium that is currently under construction. The project uses the Omniverse Platform to unite the previously incompatible suites of software used to create the geometry, form and visualisations of the complex. Previously, all of this data had to be manually compiled and cross-checked, interchanged between 3D packages like Maya and McNeel Rhino3D. NVIDIA’s tool unites these datasets using OpenUSD, an open-source version of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description framework, originally developed for animation.

The creation of these vast, ‘clean’ 3D models also has huge implications for AI, going far beyond the 2D applications of generative AI. Instead, the 3D data that is created will allow the next generation LLMs to propose 3D architectural forms, informed by the datasets and parameters of each site. ‘If you give an AI a virtual world it can learn the latent relationships in that world,’ Shajay Bhooshan says, explaining how current AI models are ‘an abstraction of a neural network. It’s clearly not the human brain, but it’s useful because it gives us an insight into how we can make decisions.’

In terms of shaping buildings, this allows ZHA to apply ‘point generating elements’ to their designs, things like better transit, more daylight, low energy, etc. ‘Architecture doesn’t really invest in research,’ he adds, ‘this is a rising tide that will lift everybody’s boats. These tools have a value that isn’t determined yet.’

ZHA is already dipping its toes in virtual worlds, using Fortnite to set up a series of modular architectural elements that could be added to the game world as a means of testing out a form of generative urbanism. As well as the Fortnite collaboration, recent ZHA projects have included work with artist Refik Anadol, as well as an ongoing focus on small, experimental projects like pavilions. Describing them as ‘sculptor’s maquettes’ and technology demonstrators, these small structures have been an essential part of the studio’s output since the earliest days.

Fischer describes AI as a ‘toolset change’, adding that ‘it’ll become part of the profession. You’ll be looking at a number of niche tools that solve very specific problems.’ These could be sustainability uses that take a 3D model to create a lifecycle carbon assessment, for example. ZHA was a pioneer in parametric design, creating models that automatically adjusted according to design variations. Using an AI to process the dataset allows near instant feedback on things like wind studies, energy use, etc., as well as explore myriad visual opportunities for a site.

‘Our investment in AI is to improve our own speed of iteration. We don’t do a lot of buildings, but we do a lot of competitions,’ Shajay continues, ‘AI is a co-pilot or assistant to help complete things, and to make parametric design more accessible to people.’ The ability to render up views in real-time has also transformed client presentations. ‘It helps them participate in their own building,’ he adds, ‘AI has completely changed the art of rendering.’

The architects describe this ability to simultaneously model and get feedback as like working in ‘digital clay’. Noting that many developers already use a form of AI to shape a structure to the limitations of a site, lighting, planning, massing and potential occupation, ZHA is arguing for a more considered, deeper application of this technology. As Fischer notes, ‘most of our cities happen without architecture – look at the coast between Hangzhou and Shenzhen, where 40 million people live. In 20 years, we’ll need cities for 600 million people just to match population projections.’ ‘One of the key roles AI will play in our industry is to democratise design, which will be a good thing,’ says Shajay Bhooshan.

The idea that complex buildings using the fluid, sculptural forms associated with the studio – and with Zaha’s own artistry and practice – could be generated by a set of parameters is unnerving. However, ZHA are quick to point out that they provide a premium product, innovating through public buildings like stadiums, galleries and transport interchanges. ‘We’re a top tier practice because we never do anything twice,’ says Fischer, ‘our AI toolkit will help us do that. Construction is not rocket science, but pretty much every building is a prototype,’ he adds, ‘AI can overcome the inherent inefficiencies in the construction market.’

ZHA’s team is not concerned with AI tools accelerating a race to the bottom. Shajay Bhooshan quotes ZHA principal Patrik Schumacher. ‘He says ‘aesthetics is the promise of performance.’ We know how to turn that into reality.’ Elevate the standard at the top, and you raise everyone else’s game. ‘When Corb came to India he designed seminal buildings in places like Chandigarh, but this also improved the lowest common denominator,’ he explains.

ZHA believes the Nansha Stadium could be considered as ‘project zero’ of AI in architecture, a first step towards a new era of computational design that will have broad implications for architecture and urbanism all over the world.

Zaha-Hadid.com

NVIDIA.com

In partnership with Omniyat

With organic, maritime forms redolent of luxury cruise ship design, The Alba is a new garden-retreat destination on the shores of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, a project by developer Omniyat, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), and managed by hospitality group Dorchester Collection.

Set to open in 2028, the ultra-luxury Alba Residences – from two- and three-bedroom units to three- and four-bedroom simplex and duplex units and penthouses – feature bold, bright, and expansive interiors designed by Gilles & Boissier, with 3m-plus ceiling heights and spectacular views of Dubai’s famous cityscape.

Gardens crafted by international award-winning landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic are designed to add serenity and beauty, integrating the natural world with the residences’ striking architecture. The distinctive, arcing shapes of the buildings emerge from gardens enriched with waterfalls and lily ponds and shaded walkways.

Tailored for those seeking a life of privacy and tranquillity, The Alba elevates luxury living with a focus on living well. The project is designed with architectural longevity and sustainability in mind, while also offering residents a connection to nature, outstanding culinary experiences, indulgent branded spa treatments, and elegantly appointed rooms. Each residence also has its own private amenities, including private pools, outdoor jacuzzis, and elevated sun platforms, all placed on expansive outdoor terraces.

‘Each space will be a sanctuary within an exclusive enclave,’ says Christopher Cowdray, president of Dorchester Collection. ‘This next-level lifestyle and hospitality experience will be combined with the impeccable service of Dorchester Collection. With panoramic views across the sea, The Alba’s expansive private terraces and immersive wellness offerings will cultivate a sophisticated oasis for reawakening, reconnection and renewal.’

Says Mahdi Amjad, founder and executive chairman of Omniyat, ‘Dubai derives so much of its charm and lifestyle from its seaside location; The Alba enhances this connection by offering a personalised waterfront experience.’ By merging ultra-luxury with curated living, the developer pushes the boundaries of design, craft, and excellence, collaborating with some of the world’s most visionary creative minds to offer ‘a harmonious blend of nature and cutting-edge design’.

‘Each space will be a sanctuary within an exclusive enclave,’ says Christopher Cowdray, president of Dorchester Collection. ‘This next-level lifestyle and hospitality experience will be combined with the impeccable service of Dorchester Collection. With panoramic views across the sea, The Alba’s expansive private terraces and immersive wellness offerings will cultivate a sophisticated oasis for reawakening, reconnection and renewal.’

The project exemplifies and honours the legacy of ZHA’s founder, Zaha Hadid – spatially inventive, artistically refined, and technologically advanced. The design aims to meet the highest level of certification from the WELL Building Standard, aligning with Omniyat’s goal of infusing luxury with ecological responsibility.

For sales and information, visit omniyat.com

Online platforms have long been sandboxes for futuristic societal visions, whether it’s the pixellated virtual forums of noughties favourite Second Life, or the persistent and vast immersive gaming worlds of Minecraft, GTA, World of Warcraft, et al. Not all of these digital spaces go the distance; Second Life now lies shuttered and abandoned, and even Zuckerberg’s billions couldn’t make the Metaverse a must-visit virtual destination.

One platform that seems to endure is Fortnite, Epic Games’ cartoonishly violent Battle Royale-style shooter. Not only does the game have 650 million registered players, with well over a million playing at any one time around the world, it’s also proved to be a useful platform for launching everything from new albums and cars, through to movies, TV shows and other video games, through bespoke characters, environments and accessories.

Underpinning all this is the Unreal Engine, a 3D creation tool developed by Epic Games that forms the basis of many contemporary video games. To reshape the worlds of Fortnite, there’s a dedicated tool, Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), one that allows creatives of all stripes to build spaces that can be interacted with using the dynamic movement of the game.

Re:Imagine London is a joint project that brings Zaha Hadid Architects into the realm of Fortnite. Working alongside the team at Epic Games, the project explores ways in which UEFN can evolve into a useful tool for industries like architecture and interiors. Using data from AccuCities’ ultra-high fidelity 3D map of London, ZHA has tapped into the skills of its Computation and Design Group (ZHACODE), which explores all forms of digital design, both online and in the real world.

Because this is the Fortnite engine, Re:Imagine London recreates the city as a multiplayer experience, a landscape based on the Thames-side stretch of the capital adorned with modular structures with terraces and towers, colonnades and walkways.

As a place to explore, it offers up a fascinating alternative view of London, as if the city had been shaped by parametric design for decades, rather than the familiar, ad-hoc patterns of construction that define it. The combination of Unreal Engine’s sophisticated modelling tools and Fortnite’s bold, cartoonish graphics, comes together in an unusual collaboration with ramifications for how future buildings might be designed and presented.

Re:Imagine London can be experienced in Fortnite by searching 'Re:Imagine London' or '1442-4257-4418' in game
Create.Fortnite.com, Zaha-Hadid.com, Epic Games, Unreal Engine, AccuCities

Anyone who’s ever been to Hong Kong will tell you that the island isn’t short of skyscrapers, especially in the bristling concrete canyons along the shorelines of Victoria Harbour. It says something, then, that ZHA's (Zaha Hadid Architects) new tower on Murray Road for the Henderson Land Group has made even jaded locals sit up and pay attention.

For starters, as addresses go, The Henderson is in good company – IM Pei’s monumental Bank of China, Norman Foster’s HSBC tower and Paul Rudolph’s Lippo Centre are practically an arm’s length away. But what makes the 190m-high, 36-storey tower stand apart is its unusual fluted façade of curved, glass columns, a design, say the architects, that ‘reinterprets the structural forms and layering of a Bauhinia bud – which appears on Hong Kong’s flag – about to blossom’.

Explore The Henderson by ZHA

‘It felt wrong to create a four-cornered building in this urban context,’ says project director Sara Klomps. ‘We wanted a building that flows, almost like a polished stone. That’s how the soft form came about.’

The tower is built on the site of the old Murray Road multistorey car park, a relatively small 31,000 sq ft plot that presented its own challenges, not least the integration of the design with the adjoining Chater Garden and Lambeth Walk Rest Garden, and a network of pre-existing public footbridges. ‘We wanted the building to enhance and repair the urban fabric,’ says Klomps, referring to the abrupt disconnect between the Admiralty and Central districts caused by the heavy volume of the old car park.

The solution was to suspend the building over the streetscape and insert expansive, sheltered walkways and gardens along the public piazza, whilst plunging a five-storey car park below ground. ‘Everyone focuses on the upstairs portion of a building,’ Klomps quips, ‘but creating the basement was very challenging especially as it sat on top of the subway.’

For the quotidian occupants of The Henderson – auction house Christie’s and Audemars Piguet have moved in – the experience is literally a lofty one with views to match from the 22nd- and 23rd-floor sky garden, and the double-volumed penthouse ballroom – the latter, a sprawling conservatory encased in glass walls and ceiling, and which Christie’s has already earmarked for its seasonal exhibitions and auctions.

The brief from the client, Henderson Land Group, was to create a new landmark for Hong Kong. On every metric, The Henderson delivers, Klomps pointing out that its organic architectural language responds to the city by integrating public gardens and public pathways, linking long disconnected neighbourhoods, while ensconcing its occupants in 21st-century tech and comforts.

So, whilst it may be hyperbolic to say that it’s a groundbreaking building, it’s fair to acknowledge that it’s remarkable in its singularity.

zaha-hadid.com

thehenderson.com.hk

In partnership with Boffi

For 90 years the Boffi atelier in Italy’s province of Monza and Brianza has been revolutionising the concepts of cooking and living. In its collaborations with key Italian designers, from Luigi Massoni to Antonio Citterio and Piero Lissoni, Boffi’s insightful approach to design, innovation, technology and artistic direction has launched products of visionary scale and groundbreaking function.

Now Boffi has announced its latest collaborative project – a monobloc kitchen island that multi-tasks as a workstation, a hub of culinary creation, and a place of conviviality. An architecturally rigorous design, characterised by simple forms, gentle curves and malleable materials, such as Corian, Boffi’s Cove Kitchen is borne of an original concept first developed by Zaha Hadid Design back in 2017.

Now further developed and finessed for a 2024 iteration, the kitchen’s emblematic silhouette has evolved, so that the entire side of the island is covered. Panels with rounded edges and perimeters hug each end of the island, while a plinth, gently inclined, features the same finish as the doors.

‘Boffi embodies elegance, craftsmanship and integrity of Italian design,’ explains the Zaha Hadid Design team. ‘The new idea of Cove Kitchen evolves from the intrinsic logic of the previous original design, while offering the flexibility of a modular system. This new iteration is supported laterally by two panels with rounded edges, both with identical cross-sections, covering the entire side of the island.’

Like all Boffi products, the Cove Kitchen is made in Italy at the company’s 25,000 sq ft factory in the furniture district of Brianza. Time-honoured processes such as the famous, glossy lacquer Polyester finish are complemented by cutting-edge techniques developed in strong continuity with the territory and local traditions. Heritage and innovation coexist across the company’s collections, while production is highly customisable and excellence is a given.

boffi.com

Dame Zaha Hadid was known globally for her dynamic public buildings. She was the first female architect to receive the Pritzker Prize, in 2004, and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, in 2016. Her singular career was abruptly cut short when she passed away suddenly on 31 March 2016 in Miami, aged just 65. 

Yet her legacy lives on. So powerful was her impact on the world that she is still, nearly a decade after her death, hugely influential, often cited in discussions, publications and events across the field, affectionately often by her first name only, 'Zaha'; and always alongside the greatest of the 20th and early 21st century, such as Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Her radical design work includes furniture, products and art (indeed, her famous deconstructivist paintings and drawings helped propel her career to stardom, way before her first built project was ever realised). 

In 2008, Hadid guest-edited Wallpaper* (W*115). We hailed her as the greatest architect of the age, and no one called to argue. She brought her futuristic touch into the magazine, testing the ‘powers and patience of the print production department’ with grey-scale cut-outs across 16 pages.

Just a couple of years before that, in 2006, Hadid was shot as a creative pair together with Karl Lagerfeld outside the Mercer Hotel in New York as part of a celebratory edition of Wallpaper's 10th anniversary. In that issue, Lagerfeld said on Hadid: 'Zaha is the first architect who found a way to part with the all-dominating post-Bauhaus aesthetic. The value of her designs is similar to that of great poetry. We are collaborating. For Chanel. Too early to talk about it. I would love her to build a house or a library for me, but where?'

Here, to highlight her lasting legacy, we look back at Zaha Hadid's profile from the Guest Editors 2008 issue, when art critic David Collings visited her in her London HQ; we track some of her greatest hits; and take an expansive look into her inimitable career and her studio, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA).

10 of Zaha Hadid's most notable buildings

Vitra Fire Station, Weil Am Rhein, Germany (1993)

Zaha Hadid’s first built project was the fairly modest (in size, at least) Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany as part of the Vitra Campus there. At the time of opening, the architect spoke about its unusual, angular forms saying: ‘The whole building is frozen motion ready to explode into action at any moment.’

Phaeno Science Centre, Wolfsburg, Germany (2005)

One of the earliest completed Hadid buildings, the Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg is decidedly futuristic - perhaps more akin to a spaceship than a building design. In 2005, when it opened, it was also the very first science museum of its kind in Germany. A cultural centre and exhibition space, it's defined by its flowing concrete shape and series of irregularly shaped windows. 

BMW Central Building, Leipzig, Germany (2005)

Another early Hadid building, the BMW Central Building in Leipzig was a competition win for a central building in the car manufacturer's German campus. 'BMW's bold objective was to translate functional industrial architecture into a new aesthetic,' Hadid's website describes the building, and true enough, this is a structure that defies categorization.  

MAXXI Museum of XXI Century Art, Rome, Italy (2009)

The MAXXI Museum of XXI Century Art in Rome is Italy's first public museum entirely dedicated to contemporary creativity, spanning arts and architecture. Going beyond showcasing the displays inside it, it becomes an object to show off in its own right, defined by its flowing forms and signature cantilever concrete viewing platform that juts out its top. 

Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China (2010)

Set at the foot of Zhujiang Boulevard in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, this is an opera house like no other. Creating a contoured landscape around it that connects it with its site, it's also a true spectacle inside too, offering an interior that rivals the ambitious performances taking place within. 

London Aquatics Centre, UK (2012)

Fittingly inspired by 'waves, the water, sea life and sea life creatures,' according to its architect British-based Zaha Hadid, the Aquatics Centre was completed in time for the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Situated within the East London Olympic site, near the Park's south entrance, the Aquatics Centre is 'positioned as a gateway and the lifting entrance canopy will invite the visitors in,' explains lead architect Jim Heverin. Its aerodynamic, aquatic-creature-inspired form is distinct, boasting a curvaceous roof and slowing volume. 

Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan (2012)

Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Centre in the Azerbijani capital is a vast and curvaceous building - which, while under construction, won 'Best Building Site' in our 2011 Design Awards. It contains 101,000 m2 of floor area, and sits on a 111,292 m2 graphically landscaped site beneath which there is parking for 1,500 cars. Under its 39,000 sq m of fluid roof, it houses a 1,000-seater auditorium, a conference centre, a library, a museum, cafes, restaurants and expansive meeting points between all these where Bakuvians can hang out and mingle. It is, in reality, a massive new chunk of civic realm.  

The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, UK (2013)

The Serpentine Sackler Gallery opened in 2013 within a Grade II*-listed building located a stone's throw from the original gallery in Hyde Park. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid has transformed the interior of the Magazine building - a 200-year-old former gunpowder store - and added a curvaceous new extension as a contemporary counterpoint. 'We wanted to use a new materiality,' says the architect, who opted for a PTFE coated, glass-fibre woven fabric membrane for the exterior skin. 'It looks temporary but is actually attached to the [existing] building in a really light way.'

Dongdaemun Design Park & Plaza, Seoul, South Korea (2013)

A major urban development landmark in Seoul, South Korea, Dongdaemun Design Plaza is the work of Zaha Hadid Architects together with Samoo. Conceived as a cultural hub for its neighbourhood, it features its architect's signature sweeping lines and intriguing forms. It includes gallery space, exhibition areas, a media centre and a conference hall, among others.

One Thousand Museum, Miami, USA (2020)

This is Zaha Hadid Architects' debut residential tower in the USA. One Thousand Museum is a glamorous and organic high-rise in downtown Miami. Completed posthumously by ZHA in 2020, it features a range of amenities, as well as bespoke landscaping by specialist Enzo Enea. The property's 84 units have been designed as half-floor, full-floor and duplex residences. Each boasts oversized terraces and East-West views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Miami skyline, and comes fitted with a bounty of custom-designed features ranging from walk-in closets by Poliform and kitchens and cabinetry by Gatto Cucine.

Wallpaper* meets Zaha Hadid: a profile from 2008

Zaha Hadid – greatest architect of the age. What has she done, what does her stuff look like, why is it good? Post-modern deconstruction, forms always surprising but never silly, responding differently to different sites, cities and societies, never allowing a mere style or brand to stand for her, but always being incredibly stylish, making you feel amazed and uplifted by the sight of, say, tower blocks. The two blocks she’s done in Dubai, for example, where curving organic speed lines merge with minimal rectangles, so the towers look like they’re flickering or bending. It’s no mirage: they really are built like that. Or at least they will be, when they’re completed in 2011. And so is architecture the greatest art form of the present? It can often seem more uplifting than art, which seems to want to ditch the one thing that made it great in the past: beauty. Contemporary architecture says a big yes to amazing visual impact, while contemporary art just kind of grunts a weary ‘Uh?’.

With such buzzing thoughts in my head, I step into an old school building in London’s Clerkenwell, which has been turned into the great architect’s practice. The spaces haven’t been done up outrageously – just white paint. It still looks like a school. Only, instead of children at desks, it’s 20-somethings and 30-somethings at computer screens, nearly 200 of them in all, the architect’s employees. They’re churning out the supplementary magic stuff that is needed to finalise the architect’s designs. The primary stuff comes out of the architect’s head. I wonder if they’ve all got degrees in architecture, or what it is you actually need to work here: if, like the boss, you need originality, vision, energy, difference, attitude, but also wisdom and a sense of history and an ability to communicate and to impress and to please people. Even though you have the reputation of being incoherent and a bit frightening.

Having arrived at the appointed time I’ve been asked to wait, maybe for a long time, and maybe – Roger the press officer says – even to expect to have to come back on a different day. On the other hand, it might be OK: ‘She might like you.’

After glasses of water and a longish browse through magnificent publications featuring Zaha Hadid’s work, with the sound of muted keyboard tapping all around – as well as the worker-geniuses at their computers, there’s a bank of beautiful male and female receptionists with bright friendly faces – and occasionally an interesting musical growling coming from somewhere on the opposite side of the large light-filled space, I’m taken to a big room and ushered a couple of feet inside the door.

Far away the Big Z sits in black at a white table. A plate of biscuits and a Diet Coke before her, some men in suits standing nearby. Roger consults, Zaha speaks, and, as I suspected, this is the source of the growling sounds I’ve been aware of. Roger returns across the room: ‘She says not today.’ When I say ‘OK’, I’m genuinely not offended – I really think she is magnificent.

In the art world, all you ever meet are preposterous poseurs whose achievements are dubious, but here’s someone who really has done something. On the other hand, I can’t say relief wasn’t entirely absent. Now I can swot up more on the kinds of things her work is about, its super-modern terminology and weird and wonderful aims – not just to provide protection for fire engines or industry people or works of art or trains whizzing in and out of cities, but to express the moment, define what we are, leave an imprint for the future of what bugs us and fires us up today.

I look at a picture of her first built building, the Vitra fire station in Germany (built on the Vitra premises and manned by Vitra volunteers; it was considered necessary following a fire at the factory). I laugh at her great comment on it from the time: ‘The whole building is frozen motion ready to explode into action at any moment.’ It really does look like it is ready to take off, all dynamic swerves, slants and angles; as if expressing the mind of someone whose very being is synonymous with action and willpower. Reassuring for a place that is in charge of putting fires out.

Roger says, as he guides me back to the reception area with a fresh armload of Hadid-glorifying glossy publications, ‘You probably know more about her than I do.’ I say no, I wish, ha ha, and nervously get down to studying the articles, just in case I am called back today.

What does ‘deconstruction’ in architecture mean? Like fashion at the end of the 20th century: a sense of something ordered and classical, but an elegant unravelling of the same thing, so you feel you’re getting both, neither stuffy nor silly. She has a sense of an ordered building, she undermines it by inserting a whole new set of contemporary values, and the result is convincing.

Her design for the compressed spaces of Cincinnati’s Rosenthal Contemporary Art Center, built for nearly $30m in 2003, causes city life to flow in and out and even through the building. A glass-walled public area on the ground level, with a lot of electric light strips, seems to stand for a kind of staged everyday city space: a delightful architectural metaphor for the cliché of blurred boundaries between art and life.

Inside, on different stages, are the galleries – eight of them – a series of changing spaces, appropriate to an art centre that has no permanent collection of its own, and is devoted to a constant stream of changing exhibitions. Some are taller than others, some have daylight, some have none, but most have a sloping or zigzag shape, few are ‘ordinary’ spaces. They’re all connected by a kind of trick staircase that appears to be tilting. As a visitor, you’re not allowed to forget the space; you’re under attack in a way. But it’s a pleasurable way. In Abu Dhabi, she’s got a museum of performing arts being constructed on a pleasure island full of museums created by architectural hot shots: hers is easily the most striking, like a low-lying reptile the size of a small town.

It’s only an hour or so later. Roger appears: ‘She’s been talking about cement all day; she wants something different.’ (As if it might be something different to eat.) I gulp and we return together to the big room, where she is telling off a lot of assistants who dart in and out of the door. They vaporise and telling-off merges into interview.

Born in Baghdad in 1950 (to a liberal democratic Muslim family who left Iraq in the 1960s), she has lived and worked in London for more than 40 years. But it turns out that, as well as the low growling speaking voice that often makes her hard to understand, she has a peculiar way of talking in solid concepts, just serving up meaning-clusters and not bothering with grammar. I know what an axonometric drawing is and what topology is and, of course, what complexity and voids are, but when they are just stuck together in a clump, I don’t know where I am. But I sincerely believe that she does. She is not at all pretentious; she knows about something difficult, her area, and she appreciates someone wanting to hear about it, even if they are a bit bewildered by what comes out.

It reminds me a little of interviewing Andy Warhol a few months before he died. I only realised much later how out of my depth I was and that he was actually being quite kind in tolerating me. He was doing something new that had a lot of complicated levels, and if he needed his verbal mode to be ‘wow’ and ‘gee’ that didn’t mean he wasn’t a formidable thinker. He had the right. And, likewise, if Hadid doesn’t go in for verbs and tenses, it’s petty to complain.

I ask her about the original artwork she’s making for Wallpaper*. She wants a shape cut out of the magazine, literally a cavity in the middle. I don’t know if this is exactly what’s going to happen in the end – I thought of my friend in the publications department at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, who told me that when Hadid had her 30-year retrospective there in 2006, she wanted a similarly logic-defying circular catalogue. She also said that Hadid used to shout at her staff in front of the publications team, and now here she was doing exactly that in front of me – I’m not sure they really minded that much, though.

She is the real thing, my friend had thought, and I do too: this amazing-looking figure, like a female Wizard of Oz, a wizard of the night, in striking black and gold Prada, with her big eyes and deep, growling voice. The artwork for Wallpaper* relates to a set of ideas about space and fluidity that she’s been developing for the last ten years. She says these ideas include all sorts of notions, but, while I understand their literal meanings, I don’t exactly know how they all add up: carving, layering, the void, space, archaeology and landscape (which certainly sounds how her buildings look). ‘But it needs a big hole in the magazine,’ she rumbles.

We get on to her paintings. She’s famous for doing them – geometric abstracts. I like them because of their balance of forms, not so much for the handling of paint, which is rather anonymous. But I’m impressed by the sense of pattern, the play of shapes, the balanced asymmetric distribution of intensities and more muted bits: what it says to me is sensitivity, experience, knowledge, feeling and a genuine mental-jumping-about energy (all rare in the Turner Prize world).

The paintings are not really abstract art, but plans for architecture; they’re her personal way of working through ideas. She started doing them in the 1970s at the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture when she was studying there under the architects Rem Koolhaas and Bernard Tschumi. Hadid is thought of as a postmodernist, but at the same time as someone for whom modernism is a burning issue, not something to be merely ironic about or jokey towards. Modernism was progressive and optimistic, but we’re all a bit more jaded now, is the postmodernist received idea: nothing is more true than anything else, and everything is relative. Hadid’s architectural spirit was formed at a time when anyone creative was on fire with postmodernist cleverness. But while she mines modernism for forms, she doesn’t use them to laugh at the days of sincerity and belief. She is a great believer in progress herself.

Painting, the influence of Russian constructivist Kasimir Malevich and her first sense that she really might have something the world might want, all happened at once for her, with Koolhaas presiding. He gave her a project, solving some problem of space, and her solution was to re-employ spatial ideas that Malevich had come up with in the run-up to the Russian revolution.

Malevich was a visionary. He wanted Russia and the whole world to move into the future, with him in the lead. He called himself The President of Space. But his ideas were too hot for the new regime, and under Stalin – after Malevich died in 1935 – they were simply banned. Now Hadid, the hot student, was going to revive them. The first blast of Malevich-return, or neo-modernism, was going to be a project on Hungerford Bridge: a hotel spanning the Thames, made of pure white, geometric, modern-art forms (similar to the ones in white relief on the wall in the room I’m sitting in with Hadid now, which turn out to be her original plans for Cincinnati).

It was just a student project, and although it earned Hadid a prize, and eventual employment by Koolhaas when she left the AA, there was never any expectation of it actually being built. However, the 1970s was a funny time at the AA, because no one actually expected anything to be built. The big architectural stars designed buildings and towns that challenged all existing buildings and towns, and were really a kind of heroic conceptual-art version of architecture. Then, in the following decade, the same iconoclasts gradually became real builders.

For Hadid it was very gradual. She won a stream of prizes, but none of the designs were realised: she was considered too radical and difficult by the powers that be. The most prestigious prize was in 1983 for a design for a leisure centre in Hong Kong, called The Peak, but then another architect was given the gig instead (perhaps because she proudly called her design for The Peak ‘a suprematist geology’). Even as late as 1994, she had a major prize-winning design (the Cardiff Bay Opera House) turned down for actual building by a board of conservative bores.

She was used to being put down by such types, but convinced she would get somewhere in the end. She kept going on about ‘complexity’, she was big and bold, she really went for it, and eventually she won. Her first built building, the fire station, went up ten years after The Peak rejection. Ten years later, she had buildings under construction all over the world, and now she’s a byword for Now.

She laughs when I ask her if Malevich is too simple for her these days, and says, ‘Yes!’ She has the greatest respect for him, but her mind is more her own now. If the typical Hadid look is elegant, slinky, organic and flowing, there is still a great range to how those characteristics are manifested: one building does something, while another one does something else. (Her predecessor, both as great guru of the art of building and great beneficiary of information technology, Frank Gehry, does a sort of computer-generated knitting, which is fun, but it’s the same knitting each time.)

What is greatness? All the past art and architecture styles that go into the Zaha Hadid product – constructivism, futurism, expressionism – have had their original ideologies taken away as they (kind of) merge with what we might call computerism. Is it that they just fit, as everything must, into the new global ideology: consumerism? The information age’s big belief is: no belief, just buy. But this is a social change that Hadid – whose overriding preoccupation right now, she tells me as we end the interview, is social housing – cannot be attacked for.

You could ask where she stands on the emptiness of our age, its emotional flatness and lack of ambition to do anything about social injustice, but does art really work like that? Her architecture is the greatest art of the moment. It expresses the age, but that means it has contradictions, too. Just as Malevich didn’t paint the revolution, but expressed a vision of change in abstract forms, or by abstract allegory and abstract metaphors, so Hadid’s buildings are metaphors for new rising optimistic ideals that fight apathy: especially a new fascination with nature, not just lovely trees, but nature’s intricacy and deep structures, its internal complexity, its processes. Her ambition is to push forward her ideas about space, to make fluid forms even more stately and surprising and moving, in order to offer society models of change. And the power and joy of the way she goes about all that is what makes her great. 

zaha-hadid.com

In partnership with Zaha Hadid Design

The latest Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD) tableware collections include new iterations of its ‘Cell’, ‘Swirl’, ‘Prime’, ‘Hew’, and ‘Pulse’ products, all crafted in glass and polished stainless steel. With inspiration spanning from cellular organisms to the process of erosion, the pieces exemplify the link between late architect Zaha Hadid’s design language and the natural world.

ZHD, founded by Hadid in 2006, continues to reflect her uniquely dynamic aesthetic as design directors Woody Yao and Maha Kutay coherently translate her ethos. Applying a methodological approach to new projects, the studio implements the latest technological and material advancements, adding to a portfolio built on over 40 years of research.

Hadid’s bold and striking lines, organic, sci-fi curves, and intricate deployment of brutalist materials are evident in the studio’s output, which spans all scales and typologies – lighting, furniture, fashion accessories, jewellery, interiors, exhibitions, public art and set-design – and includes own-label designs such as those seen here, as well as commissions.

From the new ZHD collection A/W 2023

‘Cell’ bowls

Crafted from polished stainless steel, the ‘Cell’ bowls reference the inner beauty and intricacy of cellular organisms with a form that makes a transition from solid to void, via a gradation of hexagonal and spherical perforations. 

‘We wanted to extend the “Cell” collection into the realm of serverware by adding bowls and a centrepiece to complement the [existing] candleholders,’ says the ZHD team. ‘[As before], we referenced the replication and growth of cellular organisms. However, in this iteration, we have introduced textural parametricism – formalising a moment of transition, the pieces are an expression of the many states of change occurring in nature.

‘Machined by robotic laser to ensure adherence to the concepts informing the design, the stainless-steel pieces are emblematic of ZHD's commitment to innovation. Their food-safe finish makes them equally functional as well as statement pieces.’

‘Pulse’ glassware

In the ‘Pulse’ series, the apparent simplicity of the pleated glass contrasts with the complexity of the glassware’s production process. Each piece displays many degrees of variation in the polished, hand-blown glass and a glimpse into the meticulous craftsmanship and technical challenges involved in its making, to achieve seamless vertical channels across a portion of the circumference. The pleats wrap around the base of the glassware, extending upwards, emphasising both vertical and horizontal dynamism. The design provides a tactile dichotomy between the smooth and folded surfaces, and a uniquely sensory experience for the user.

‘Hew’ drinkware

The result of ZHD’s extensive exploration of the concepts of erosion and carving, ‘Hew’ drinkware is a tactile and visually engaging series of elements that redefine the art of glassmaking. Each piece – a highball, a tumbler, and a carafe – is meticulously crafted to embody the perfect balance between form and function.

‘Swirl’ bowls

The ‘Swirl’ small bowl is a new addition to the series – inspired by the motion of a swirling vortex – and retains the essence of its larger counterpart while boasting a unique character. With a polished surface that adds to its dynamism, the shallow bowl, perfect for decorative purposes or serving food, is meticulously crafted and a timeless design.

zaha-hadid-design.com

This round-up of 24 transportation design innovations for 2024 is driven by curiosity rather than any attempt to be comprehensive. The following machines – whether wheeled, winged or just seats or buildings – are all dedicated to making mobility just a little bit easier, more elegant and, hopefully, more efficient. Some are practically in the bag, while others may be subject to slight delays. Read on to discover some of the many ways we’re hoping to get around this year.

Transportation design innovations to expect this year

Lotus Emeya

Lotus’ Eletre SUV was a hugely credible start to the company’s latest revival. 2024 will see the launch of the Lotus Emeya, a four-door sports EV that’s aimed squarely at the current market leader the Porsche Taycan. Sharper styling, innovative tech and graphics and sharp handling are all promised. 

LotusCars.com

Porsche Panamera 

The latest version of Porsche’s mighty Panamera amps up the electrical content for more range and performance, all the while refining the design of the company’s original four-door sporting GT. The outgoing generation was one of our favourite fast four-doors, and the new model looks set to exceed it in every respect. 

Porsche.com

Volkswagen ID.7

Another big saloon, albeit cut from a slightly less sporting mould, Volkswagen ID.7 is the latest model in its all-electric line-up. With a projected range of around 384 miles, the ID.7 is set to be one of the longest-legged EVs to debut this year. 

Volkswagen.co.uk

BMW i5 Touring

BMW’s i5 Touring is the first application of electrification to the company’s traditionally styled estate cars. While estates have been overlooked for too long in favour of SUVs, there’s also an EV estate on the way from Audi, signalling a slight but significant shift in the scale of aspirational cars. 

BMW.co.uk

Hyundai Ioniq 7

Previewed by the Ioniq Concept ‘Seven’ from 2021 (shown here), the forthcoming Ioniq 7 is pitched as the Korean company’s flagship SUV model. Closely related to Kia’s EV9, the Ioniq 7 will be spacious and flexible, as well as distinctively designed.  

Hyundai.co.uk

Cupra Tavascan

Cupra is ploughing ahead with its conversion to a pure EV company. Next up is the Tavascan, a fast-back compact SUV that’s the most coherent representation to date of the Spanish company’s strangely gothic form language. 

CupraOfficial.co.uk

MG Cyberster

As the first electric convertible sportscar to market, the Cyberster is going to attract a lot of attention. Considerably larger than the compact MGs of old, the Chinese-owned brand is still hoping to capture some of their original magic. 

MG.co.uk

Polestar 4

Polestar previews its products well ahead of time, so the shape and style of the 4 is no surprise. Following on from the Polestar 3, an SUV, the Polestar 4 is an SUV coupé, a crucial stylistic distinction that gives this car an elegant silhouette. 

Polestar.com

Volvo EX90

Also incoming from Sweden is the new Volvo EX90, a seven-seater SUV that looks set to embody all the archetypal Volvo qualities – safety, practicality, steadfast style – in an all-electric package.  

VolvoCars.com

Fiat 600e

The upcoming Fiat 600e is much more than an upscaled 500e. Sharing a platform with Jeep’s accomplished Avenger, this modestly sized EV uses Fiat’s friendly design DNA for a more practical everyday proposition. 

Fiat.co.uk

Citroën ë-C3

Billed as the first ‘affordable European electric car’, the Citroën ë-C3 channels the spirit of its stripped-down Ami microcar and Oli concept. With an upright stance, simplified visual language and sub €25k price, the company is positioning this as a 2CV for the 21st century. 

Citroen.co.uk

New Mini EVs

The electrification of Mini gathers pace in 2024 with electric versions of the Mini Countryman and Cooper on the way, along with the Aceman crossover SUV. 

Mini.co.uk

Volocopter Air Taxi

While all the four-wheeled debuts are signposted way in advance, innovations in aerial transport rarely commit to fixed timescales. Air taxi start-up Volocopter has vouched to have a service up and running for this summer's Paris Olympics; will this prove over-ambitious? 

Volocopter.com

CityAirbus NextGen

Airbus Industry’s CityAirbus NextGen is still very much a prototype machine, but 2024 should see this all-electric, four-seater eVTOL aircraft take its first flight. The eVTOL market is crowded with concepts but the backing of Europe’s largest aeronautics company makes this one to watch. 

Airbus.com

Wisk Aero

US air taxi developer Wisk Aero is assembling the production prototype of its sixth-generation aircraft in California with a view to flying the fully autonomous four-seater craft sometime this year. Wisk’s strategy of skipping human pilots altogether is markedly different from potential competitors. 

Wisk.aero

Hill Helicopters HX50

Compared to the futuristic forms proposed by the eVTOL companies, Hill Helicopters is somewhat conventional. Building a traditional rotorcraft from scratch is still a tall order, and the UK-based is focusing on first-time buyers with its sleekly designed five-seater.

HillHelicopters.com

Passenger Terminal, Mumbai

Also coming online late this year are the passenger terminals and control tower at Mumbai’s new D.B. Patil International Airport. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in the firm’s characteristic expressive modernist style, the pavilion-like terminals will be surrounded by lakes and feature voluminous curved roofs. 

NMIAirport.co.in

LAX APM System

Although mass transit and the United States go together like oil and water, Los Angeles Airport has made an effort with its new automated people mover (APM) system. Linking LAX’s terminals with transport nodes outside the airport itself is a start, but in a country where Disney World’s monorail system is allegedly the 9th largest mass transit system, don’t expect any Elizabeth Line-style grand gestures.

LAWA.org

Lufthansa Allegris seating

Lufthansa passengers will finally get an uplift in every class in 2024, as the company rolls out its long-awaited new Allegris seating systems. First and Business Class customers flying the airline’s newest A350 and 787 will get the upgrade this summer. 

Lufthansa.com

Air New Zealand Skynest

Air New Zealand runs some of the longest-haul routes in the world. To make the journey fly by, the company is rolling out its innovative Skynest bunks for passengers flying to New York and Chicago, both 15-plus-hour routes. The pod-like system, designed by Kate Cameron-Donald and Zoe Wenn, offers six bunks that can be pre-booked for a chunk of in-flight sleep.

AirNewZealand.com

Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air

We’ve already previewed the sleek Frauscher x Porsche 850 Fantom Air electric speedboat, a collaboration between the sports car maker and the historic Austrian boatbuilder. This year will see first customer deliveries of this super watercraft. 

FrauscherxPorsche.com

Blue Innovations Group R30

Another electric boat to watch out for is BIG’s R30. A 30ft cabin cruiser, the R30 is designed for the big time, pitched at pleasure boat users seeking a multifunctional vessel with zero emissions, with a flexible interior and deck configuration. On-board solar helps top up the battery. 

BlueInnovationGroup.com

BMW Motorrad CE 02

Following on from the launch of the CE 04, BMW Motorrad is branching out with another electric scooter, the CE 02. With a chunkier, more stripped-back style, this is a bike aimed at riders of every ability. 

BMW-Motorrad.co.uk

Stilride 1

Stilride’s debut electric scooter is diametrically different in style to BMW’s offering, with an expressive body formed from origami-inspired bent steel. The Swedish company says the Stilride 1 will get around 120km of range, while its clever construction saves material, waste and labour. 

Stilride.com

Inside the Zaha Hadid-designed Magazine restaurant at Serpentine Galleries, a climate solution is cooking. In the face of a global food crisis, a complex set of problems around how we consume food requires an equally involved set of solutions. Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe, founders of London-based studio Cooking Sections, are working across disciplines with scientists, chefs, and policymakers on their ongoing research project, Climavore. As part of ‘Back to Earth’, the Serpentine's long-term programme featuring artistic responses to the climate emergency, Cooking Sections has created a menu of three dishes: one small, one large, and one sweet. Each aims to showcase an adaptive and ecologically conscious food system. 

What began in 2015 to encourage restaurants across the United Kingdom to replace farmed salmon from their menus with more sustainable ingredients (by way of stimulating marine habitats and improving water quality) has become a much larger conversation. Through collaborations with Cooking Sections, cultural institutions in the UK, Sweden, and the United States are addressing the issue of food industrialisation. ‘It's about setting the framework under which chefs, cooks, anyone, can develop to their own needs and scale,’ says Schwabe. ‘We're not writing recipes and distributing them to restaurants. These recipes are made by the chefs.’ 

The three new dishes for The Magazine are made with regenerative agriculture in mind. Using plants designed to improve the quality of their soil (a rotational crop practice rooted in Indigenous wisdom), tomatoes on toast is served on YQ sourdough – the name stands for ‘yield/quantity’, an alternative flour with a unique flavour profile. This approach strives to introduce renewed grain varieties at optimal times of the year. ‘When you go to the supermarket in cities like London, you can find pretty much anything all year round; there's a certain erosion of the seasons,’ says Fernández Pascual. ‘So we started to consider how seasons can inform choices, but also policies or landscapes.’

When we regard market stalls during the seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter, we're met with artichokes, blackberries, pumpkins, and clementines. But looking to the future, with the trajectory we're on, what would it look like to eat in the season of polluted oceans and drought or the season of wildfires and flash floods? This is the exact thought experiment that launched Climavore. ‘We thought it would be compelling to work with a restaurant to do an intervention there. For us, the restaurant is a significant place,’ says Fernández Pascual, who points out that the term ‘restaurant’ can be traced back to the 19th century, and derives from the French restaurer. ‘We like to see the restaurant as a place, not only to restore the human body but to restore ecology at large today.’ 

The Magazine is an extension of Serpentine North, which was built in 1805 as a gunpowder store. Hadid’s glass walls curve in space around oval skylights in the deep billowed ceiling, creating a characteristically organic form. The gallery's gardens can be seen past sculptural columns that punctuate the dining room. As the Serpentine’s leading food and drink destination, The Magazine is an extension of its exhibitions. After tomatoes on toast, the ‘Back to Earth’ menu offers British chickpea tabbouleh with bright summer squash, lemon verbena harissa, robust barrel-aged feta and mint. Then to finish, a seasonal rhubarb and British red and white quinoa cake, served with bay leaf honey and stem ginger ice cream. A simple menu infused with elaborate research. 

Through Climavore, Cooking Sections offers actionable sustainability through collective transformation. Any one of the ‘Back to Earth’ dishes is a feast for the palate, but more importantly, it opens a dialogue. It encourages us to participate in the discussion and include all voices in developing new strategies and innovations to better the future of food.

INFORMATION

serpentinegalleries.org; cooking-sections.com

Roca London Gallery is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and with it, launches a special exhibition of works by its author, the late, great Dame Zaha Hadid and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). The show, ‘Everything Flows’, which opens this week and will run to the end of 2022, is a thorough exploration showcasing key objects developed by Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD), the practice's product design arm, over the last 15 years. It is a fitting, festive display that honours the legacy of the British-Iraqi architect's work before her untimely death in 2016, and the studio's designs and development beyond – a Roca anniversary to remember. 

Located at Imperial Wharf near London’s Chelsea Harbour, the gallery’s form is based on water, ZHA explains. This feels appropriate given that Roca’s core business is in sanitaryware products, but also follows ZHA's signature approach that often stands out for its flowing shapes, seamless design and mesmerising, sweeping curves. It is a sculptural environment with a strong identity, which makes it a fitting context for an exhibition on the studio's work in product design too – there is fashion and jewellery, home accessories, furniture, fabrics and lighting. 

‘Everything Flows: Zaha Hadid Design at Roca London Gallery’

‘In our view, the project was – and still is – truly innovative in terms of design as well as in its materiality, both internally and externally. The space appears seamlessly “carved” by water; a versatile and flexible environment, apt to accommodate a diverse array of events, exhibitions, business meetings and presentations, while also functioning as an office and a showroom which perfectly embody the essence of the Roca brand,' say Maha Kutay and Woody Yao, co-directors of ZHD. 

They continue: ‘For us, the meaning of this anniversary is reflected in the title we have chosen for the exhibition: indeed everything flows and nothing remains the same, we see it as a constant evolution, and thus we must evolve and adapt accordingly. We must always remember where we are coming from as well as which are the values informing our path, but we should not indulge in nostalgia, yet look ahead with renewed motivation, positivity and faith in the future.' 

The exhibits include products shown in the UK for the first time, such as a new furniture range made in collaboration with Japanese brand Karimoku and jewellery designed for Tateossian. Saoirse Walsh, cultural programme manager at Roca London Gallery, says: ‘It has always felt like a deep privilege to work within the unique, organic spaces of our Zaha Hadid gallery. We instantly became, and remain, a landmark destination on architecture and design lovers’ maps. ZHA and ZHD are constantly pushing the boundaries of material and form and this exhibition will help reaffirm just how radical an innovator Zaha Hadid was and how her ideas and spirit live on through her practice.'

INFORMATION

‘Everything Flows: Zaha Hadid Design at Roca London Gallery’, 24 May – 22 December 2022

zaha-hadid.com

rocalondongallery.com

Mario Pani’s 107th birthday
29 March 2018

Mario Pani played a large part in shaping the design of Mexico City in the twentieth century, with this Doodle - created by his son, artist Knut Pani - paying tribute to them. Pictured is his extensive residential complex, the Tlatelolco Urban Centre in Mexico City, which houses 12,000 apartments in 102 buildings and is characterised by its curved element and triangular tower.

Saloua Raouda Choucair’s 102nd birthday
24 June 2018

Lebanese sculptor Saloua Choucair explored mathematical patterns in her artworks which interlocked together in intricate forms. Her series, ‘poems’, could be dismantled, the movable pieces comparable to the verses of a Sufi poem. Acclaimed throughout her life, at age 97 she was honoured by London’s Tate Modern who put on a retrospective celebrating her long career.

Wilder Penfield’s 127th birthday
26 January 2018

Montreal’s first neurosurgeon, Wilder Penfield’s work in mapping the brain led to new techniques to treat epilepsy. In experiments using electrical probes, he discovered stimulating certain parts of the brain prompted memory cues - such as the smell of burnt toast the Doodle depicts.

Gabriel García Márquez’s 91st Birthday
6 March 2018

Google bring the mystical world of Gabriel García Márquez to life with this Doodle which draws the lush tropical world of Macondo in the Amazonian jungle, the famous setting of his book, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Márquez combined fiction with political activism in a long and distinguished career.

Pi Day
14 March 2018

If you haven’t been marking Pi Day with a slice of pie - why not? The mathematical concept of Pi was recognised in 1988 by Larry Shaw, and represents the ratio between a circle’s circumference to its diameter. This Doodle, baked by Cronut creator Dominique Ansel, pays homage to a mathematical constant which is much more interesting to us when constructed in pastry.

Marga Faulstich’s 103rd birthday
26 June 2018

Next time you grab your shades on the way out the door, spare a thought for German scientist Marga Faulstich who devoted her life to glass chemistry, making your favourite specs possible. She found a way to change a gas directly to a solid without it becoming a liquid, meaning small glass objects could be coated with a vapour, allowing for a glass with anti-reflective coating which blocks UV light.

30th anniversary of the World Wide Web
12 March 2019

‘Mesh’ was Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s working name for the world wide web application, the invention which forever changed life as we know it. Originally a flowchart, it soon became a working model complete with the HTML language, HTTP application and the first Web browser and page editor. Two billion users now use it, hopefully for purposes in addition to reading about Google Doodles.

Erich Ohser’s 115th birthday
18 March 2018

German cartoonist Erich Ohser acted out his political ideology through cartoons and caricatures which depicted his disgust with the National Socialists. Throughout the twentieth century, he balanced his more politically-dangerous pieces with a popular and light-hearted comic strip about a father and son.

Stanisław Moniuszko’s 200th birthday
5 May 2019

Warsaw-based illustrator Gosia Herba paid tribute to Polish musician Stanisław Moniuszko on what would have been his 200th birthday. The director of the Warsaw Opera House, Moniuszko oversaw the production of many of his own works including Halka, which went on to become a classic of Polish culture.

Celebrating Seiichi Miyake
18 March 2019

In 1965, Seiichi Miyake invented tactile blocks to help a friend suffering with their sight. The blocks - one kind which came with dots, the other with bars - let the user know when they were approaching danger, and which way to go. Two years later, they were introduced onto the street in Japan and soon made their way into urban environments around the world, transforming the lives of the visually impaired.

Nowruz
20 March 2019

Google marked the spring equinox and Nowruz, the Persian New Year, with a floral tribute. The festivities, lasting for 13 days, begin on the first day of Farvardin, the first month in the Iranian Hijri calendar.

Parveen Shakir’s 67th birthday
24 November 2019

Pakistani poet Parveen Shakir won Pakistan’s President’s Award for Pride of Performance in 1990 for her Urdu poetry. The first poet to use the word larki (girl) in her work, she subverted male traditions by honestly depicting the female experience.

Nicholas Winton’s 111th birthday
19 May 2020

Sir Nicholas Winton organised the escape of over 600 children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia in the months before the Second World War, a fact he never revealed to anyone. It was only when his wife discovered documents in the attic in 1988 she learnt of his efforts in finding homes, raising money, forging documents and bribing officials, saving the primarily Jewish children from almost certain death.

Celebrating Falafel
18 June 2019

We all love a falafel - why not celebrate it? As India entered high season for the majority of the world’s chickpea crop, Google clearly agreed. Whatever you do with it - Egypt grind down fava beans and fry them, Germany top theirs with sauerkraut - it cannot fail to be delicious.

Tatyana Lioznova 96th birthday
20 July 2020

In a move rare for a female Russian director, Tatyana Lioznova achieved huge success in the twentieth century with her popular programmes, including the 12-part ‘Seventeen Moments of Spring.’ which followed the adventures of Russia’s answer to James Bond, Maxim Isayev.

Julius Lothar Meyer’s 190th birthday
19 August 2020

One of two scientists to discover the periodic law of chemical elements, German chemist Meyer’s periodic tables are ubiquitous in every school in the world.

Barbara Hepworth
25 August 2020

English sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth hammers away at Google in her Doodle which marks the day she arrived in St. Ives in 1939. The seaside town would be instrumental in a career which saw her embrace natural, abstract pieces which were sensitive to the qualities of the raw materials she transformed.

Doodle for Google US winner
23 September 2020

Ten year old Sharon Sara was the winner of 2020’s Doodle for Google competition which invited tens of thousands of students in America to illustrate the prompt: ‘I show kindness by..’ Sara, with her Doodle showing how kindness can be shown through friendship and inclusion, was the lucky recipient of a $30,000 college scholarship, with her school benefitting from a $50,000 technology package.

Dr. Harold Moody
1 September 2020

Charlot Kristensen, a Dublin-based guest artist, depicted Jamaican-born British doctor and racial equality campaigner Dr. Harold Moody for his Doodle, marking the day Moody arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1904. Moody went on to become the founder of the UK’s first civil rights movement after facing racism which denied him work. His kindness is represented by the children in the illustration, signalling the countless deprived young Moody would treat for free.

Google’s 22nd birthday
27 September 2020

Well if you don’t let everyone know it’s your birthday, how will they know to celebrate you? Google marked 22 years of Larry Page and Sergey Brin deciding to rethink the way people interacted with information on the Web with an appropriately restrained lockdown Doodle - never mind, we’re sure the real celebrations were saved for offline.

Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao’s 89th birthday
10 March 2021

Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao’s spearheading of India’s satellite programme led to the 1975 launch of India’s first satellite, one of almost two dozen satellites which addressed poverty by increasing communication to rural areas. In 2013, he became the first Indian to be inducted into the Satellite Hall of Fame, an accolade which coincided with the launch of a satellite which orbits Mars today.

Kuzgun Acar’s 93rd birthday
28 February 2021

Kuzgun Acar’s artworks in wire, nails and scrap metals rethought modern sculpture in Turkey in the twentieth century. After learning his skills at ship-dismantling workshops, he went on to produce classic pieces such as ‘Turkey’ - a relief in bronze - as well as producing steel and rubber masks for German theatre play ‘The Caucasian Chalk Office’.

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s 140th birthday
9 November 2020

Guest UK-based artist Jing Zhang paid tribute to one of the smaller creations from British architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Scott worked on many large designs, including the Battersea Power Station and his first project, the Liverpool Cathedral, but it is the red telephone box he designed in 1924 which captures Zhang’s imagination.

Celebrating Johannes Gutenberg
14 April 2021

Lovers of the written word have German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg to thank. His fifteenth century movable type printing press, which replaced the wooden letters of traditional printers with metal type, made books affordable for the first time. Two decades later, his printing press was the largest in Europe, kickstarting a new direction for mass media.

151st anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
13 April 2021

Founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was established in 1870, quickly collecting a Roman sarcophagus as its first work. Parts of its extensive eclectic collection can be seen in the Doodle, from a Byzante floor mosaic to the armour of Emperor Ferdinand I and a Tetin Sioux beaded dress.

David Warren’s 96th birthday
20 March 2021

Although his first prototype was in red, Australian research scientist Dr. David Warren’s life-saving invention is better known as the ‘black box.’ In the Fifties, he invented an almost indestructible recording device for aircrafts which caught conversations in the cockpit in real time, preventing recurring tragedies.

30th anniversary of Pac-Man
21 May 2010

‘Pac-Man seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage,’ said Marcin Wichary, senior UX designer and developer at Google, in May 2010. ‘They’re both deceptively straightforward, carefully hiding their complexity under the hood. There’s a light-hearted, human touch to both of them.’ The Doodle, which he created with in-house ‘Google Doodler’ (as they have become known)
 Ryan Germick was the first-ever playable doodle, and was on the homepage for 48 hours, because, said Wichary, ‘it’s too cool to keep for just one day’.

The Great Wave of Kanagawa
31 October 2010

It’s an odd thought: a 17th-century Japanese century woodcut going viral. The Great Wave was first circulated the old-fashioned way, via traders and tall ships in the 19th century. Since then, it has inspired Claude Debussy’s orchestral work La Mer, appeared in poetry and prose by Rainer Maria Rilke, and was animated by teamLAB at London gallery Pace. Levi’s and Patagonia used it in marketing campaigns. In 2011, it was preserved in cyberspace as a Google Doodle, and has since been turned into an emoji. Thanks, in no small part to the uncompromising powers of Google Search, it is an image that is as globe-spanning, and enduring, as the ocean itself.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Google and Robert Indiana
14 February 2011

This iconic Doodle (if you can call it that) was created by renowned artist behind ‘LOVE’, and it broke the trend of month upon month of interactive doodles, reverting back to a simpler, stationary symbol. Robert Indiana – poster artist of pop culture – is no stranger to having his work seen in unconventional settings by millions: the US Postal Service carried reproductions of his works on stamps in 1973 as part of its ‘love series’, and he created a work for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign depicting the word ‘HOPE’.

Courtesy of the Morgan Art Foundation / ARS, NY

First Day of Winter by Takashi Murakami
21 June 2011

In the San Francisco Bay Area where Google is based, its typically pretty mild all year round. Craving some seasonal differentiation, it turned to Japanese art superstar Takashi Murakami to ring in the summer and winter solstice in 2011 with a pair of doodles for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, respectively. Google’s Ryan Germick said at the time, ‘The doodles feature some of Murakami’s quirky characters and signature bold colors. It was a great honor to collaborate with Murakami-san and his Kai Kai Kiki team, who create what must be some of our most “kawaii” doodles yet.’

Mies van der Rohe’s 126th birthday
27 March 2012

Along with Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture. To honour what would have been his 126th birthday, Google created this colourful interpretation of his Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology (1956). The glass windows are coloured like Google chars, in a way which also nods to Le Corbusier’s use of primary colours in the windows of Unité d’Habitation in northern France.

Jan Kaplický’s 75th birthday
18 April 2012

Only originally displayed on the Google homepage in Czech Republic, this Doodle depicts neo-futurist Kaplický’s highly controversial Prague National Library (nicknamed ‘the octopus’) which he designed before his death in 2007 at the age of 71. The commission, however, was canceled in 2008. As the octopus never got to stretch its legs, its with love that Google remembers its creator in this digital epitaph. 

Keith Haring’s 54th birthday
4 May 2012

In 2012, one-time subway graffiti artist Keith Haring was presented on a different kind of much-trafficked wall. The late-80s pop artist, whose work currently fills the sky-lit lobby of Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, is here copied by in-house Google Doodlers. Widely recognised as creating his own visual language, his famous figures are here bent out of shape, to form a wobbly Google logo. 

150th anniversary of the London Tube map
9 January 2013

Frank Pick’s London Tube Map is a unique accomplishment of graphic innovation, and has become the subject of many artistic endeavours since its creation in 1863 – like Langlands & Bell’s renowned memorial unveiled at Picadilly Circus in 2016. This Google Doodle, a simplified version of the map, rendered in Google’s typical Sans Serif typeface, was only shown in the UK, so we hope its inclusion in this round-up gives the rest of the world pause to acknowledge this beloved symbol of British design prowess. 

Luis Barragán’s 111th birthday
9 March 2013

Even in the midnight hue of the sky, this Doodle transports us to Mexico City. It depicts the brightly coloured pool and pink stable block of Mexican architect Luis Barragán’s Cuadra San Cristobál, an equestrian and estate which is privately owned by the Egerström family since its completion in 1968.

Saul Bass’ 93rd birthday
8 May 2013

Here’s where things get meta. In 2013, Doodler Matthew Cruickshank was given the tricky task of creating a logo celebrating the logo design master Saul Bass. Cruickshank took Bass’ motto – ‘symbolise and summarise’ – to task with a short animated sequence that reimagines Google’s logo in the designers’ unmistakable brand of title credits, set to an upbeat jazz tune composed by David Brubeck. During his 40-year career, Bass, who died in 1996, collaborated with many of the industry’s most influential filmmakers: Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorcese, and Otto Preminger, to name a few. He single-handedly revitalised title sequences in his work for Alfred Hitchcock’s films, devising a revolutionary type of kinetic typography that characterised the openings of classics such as North by Northwest, Vertigo and Psycho.

Kenzo Tange’s 100th birthday
4 September, 2013

Depicting the renowned Structuralist architect stringing up Google bunting across the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo (1961-64), this doodle celebrates the life and work of Kenzo Tange, and was only displayed on the Google homepage in Japan. 

Niki de Saint Phalle’s 84th birthday
29 October 2014

Niki de Saint Phalle’s ‘Nanas’ took over the Google homepage for the French sculptress’s 84th birthday in 2014. Inspired by her pregnant friend, the ‘Nana’ sculptures were de Saint Phalle’s artistic rendition of the everyday woman and became a symbol of femininity. De Saint Phalle described her first ‘Nana’ house as a ‘doll’s house for adults, just big enough to sit and dream in.’

Wassily Kandinsky’s 148th birthday
16 December, 2014

This doodle was inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky – the man credited with creating the first ever purely abstract works of art – and was used with special permission of the Estate of Wassily Kandinsky, which is represented by Artist Rights Society. It depicts his pioneering use of expansive coloured masses, cluttered with near-spiritual irreverence, geometry and abstract lines, perhaps best described by The Rider, (1911). In typical Kandinksy fashion, it barely says ‘Google’ at all. 

Lygia Clark’s 95th birthday
23 October, 2015

Famed Brazilian painter, sculptor and teacher, Lygia Clark co-founded the Neo-Concrete movement, which sought to change art from a passive viewing experience to an engaging interaction. Her art pieces, specifically the ‘bichos’, were designed to be modified, re-positioned and folded into new configurations by participants – the participant here being Google. The logo has been stripped of its primary colours, and rendered in greyscale shades favoured by Clark, each letter folding in on itself like origami. These ‘critters’ represent Clark’s early attempts to bridge the gap between artist and viewer, alongside Google’s attempts to bridge the gap between searcher and host.

121st anniversary of the first published timetable in Japan
5 October, 2015

One of the seemingly obscure commemorative Doodles – the 121st anniversary of the publication of the first Japanese railway timetable – is actually more all-encompassing than it looks. It represents, says Google, ‘the advent of time consciousness, and the beginning of efficient and reliable mass transit’. That told us. Google continues: ‘To celebrate this achievement, we decided to create our own, unique schedule with invented names, destinations and times in homage to the humble train timetable. We wanted to reference as many traditional design elements, symbols and typographic styles as possible. To help out, we gathered as many "timetable geeks" as we could find in our Tokyo office. Our team of experts had many brainstorming sessions and came up with more ideas than we could possibly include in the final artwork.’

Yps Magazine’s 40th anniversary
13 October, 2015

Germany’s Yps Magazine published its first comic in 1985. Filled with tales of mystery, peril, and adventure, many would agree that the most irresistible aspect of the slim publication was the toy that came with it, and each subsequent edition. They ranged from the simple (spinning tops) to the sophisticated (kits to build functioning radios), and often the slightly bizarre (a package of Brine Shrimp eggs that young readers were encouraged to hatch and grow themselves). Artist Nate Swinehart endeavoured to recapture this sense of anticipation and mystery with a Doodle that changes each time you see it.

The 42nd Anniversary of Rio–Niterói Bridge opening
4 March, 2016

Brazil’s Rio–Niterói Bridge exemplifies the ingenuity of the human spirit – as captured by guest Doodler Patrick Leger, who crafted a recreation of the bridge on the bay with the Brazilian coast visible in the background, and shadowy Google lettering stretching out across the water. The structure met with great international praise when it opened in 1974 as the second-longest bridge in the world, spanning the vast Guanabara Bay. Its greatest accomplishment is connection. Carrying over 100,000 passengers daily, it unites Nieterói and Rio de Janeiro, cities with populations of 487,000 and 6.5 million respectively.

Juno Reaches Jupiter
5 July, 2016

On 5 July 2016, a NASA satellite built like a tank settled into polar orbit around Jupiter, the mysterious gas giant two doors down from Earth. Juno’s five–year, 500–million–mile journey will culminate in a treasure trove of new pictures and measurements taken by its nine instruments. The latest Juno images were delivered back down to earth successfully on February 7, 2018. Google celebrated this incredible moment of human achievement the best way they new how: with Space Invadors references. The emoji-tastic GIF captures the moment mission control received news Juno had entered orbit.

80th anniversary of the opening of the Moscow Metro
May 15, 2015

Matt Cruickshank’s Doodle celebrates the railway that shaped a city. The ‘Google doodler’ drew inspiration from vintage russian posters. He started with the map in the metro’s current lines colours and distinctive radial-circle structure but decided to combine the old with the new and ended up using sepia-toned fashion of a vintage Russian poster. He also added a classic train with ‘80’ on the front to pay homage to the anniversary.

Celebrating Zaha Hadid
31 May, 2017

The Heydar Aliyev Center, depicted behind a cartoon-style portrait of the late, great Zaha Hadid, sets itself in contrast to the block-like structures that surround it in Baku, Azerbaijan. The architects’ signature fluid style is captured in the endlessly curving lines of the drawing, and the almost-unreadable Google typeface. At the same time, this cultural centre takes inspiration from historic Islamic designs found in calligraphy and geometric patterns to create something entirely new. The building takes an open form to invite the public into its space. The centre has played host to modern art by Andy Warhol and Tony Cragg, and world-class performances from Kitaro and Alessandro Safina.

Meret Oppenheim’s 104th birthday
6 October, 2017

Created by guest artist Tina Berning, this Doodle celebrates Meret Oppenheim on what would have been her 104th birthday. The Doodle nods to one of her most known works, ’Object’ – a famously fur-covered bracelet which is in the Gems and Ladders collection – and honors the surrealist tradition of combining unexpected elements to create something new.

Celebrating the Studio for Electronic Music
18 October, 2017

Google felt the beat as it celebrated the 66th anniversary of the Studio for Electronic Music with this neon Doodle, by Berlin-based illustrator Henning Wagenbreth. It celebrates the noisy diversity of thought and imagination that built this studio, which was to transform the possibilities of music. Known as the first modern music studio, it became a haven for innovative musicians and producers from its base at the West German Broadcasting facility in Cologne, to the rest of the world.

Hokiichi Hanawa’s 271st birthday
23 June, 2017

When Helen Keller visited the memorial house of Hanawa Hokiichi in 1937, she said of the revered scholar, ‘I believe that his name would pass down from generation to generation like a stream of water.’ This Doodle celebates the intergenerational legacy of the thinker. Like a river originating from humble beginnings in Tokyo in 1746, his influence has stretched through law, politics, economics, history, and medicine.

Virginia Woolf’s 136th birthday
25 January 2018

Subject of many ponderous, self-absorbed English Literature dissertations (mine included), and subject of a new exhibition at Tate St Ives, Virginia Woolf is an icon of Modernist literature, and has sparked two centuries of artistic renderings. This year, a Google Doodle was penned by London-based illustrator Louise Pomeroy. It salutes with grace and symbolism Woolf’s minimalist style. Not tonally disimilar to the bust found outside her Bloomsbury residence, the portrait is surrounded by falling autumn leaves (a frequent visual theme in her work). In Woolf’s words: ‘
The autumn trees gleam in the yellow moonlight, in the light of harvest moons, the light which mellows the energy of labor, and smooths the stubble, and brings the wave lapping blue to the shore.’

Opened in early 2021, Karimoku Commons is a hybrid space in Tokyo featuring workspaces and galleries, ‘a space where you can rethink your life with wood’, by exploring the Japanese brand and have a more experiential approach to its furniture designs and manufacturing. The latest exhibition to open at the space (from 13 October to 3 December 2021) is an overview of Zaha Hadid Design’s works, with a focus on collaborative product designs from the past ten years.

Zaha Hadid Design retrospective

The exhibition at Karimoku Commons presents a selection of architectural models from Hadid’s archives that have been reproduced in wood, as well as an overview of Zaha Hadid Design’s portfolio, including jewellery design, furniture, lighting and more, both created in collaboration with international brands and under the ZHD label. 

Whether working on a building or small object, it was Zaha Hadid’s mission to innovate formally, technically or through materials, and the pieces on display are a fitting demonstration of her commitment to innovation. The exhibition includes gravity-defying chandeliers for Slamp, crystal objects for Lalique and shoes for United Nude, but also designs produced under the studio’s brand that include glassware, tealights, salt and pepper shakers and decorative objects.

Zaha Hadid Design and Karimoku: the ‘Seyun’ chair

The exhibition previews the studio’s ‘Seyun’ chair for Karimoku, set to launch in 2022 and featuring Zaha Hadid Design’s distinctive sinuous silhouettes and rigorously engineered construction. On display are also a series of prototypes of furniture including chairs, armchairs and tables designed by the studio and crafted by Karimoku's artisans in wood. The project was overseen by Zaha Hadid Design directors, Woody Yao and Maha Kutay, who worked closely with Karimoku craftspeople on the piece. 

‘This collaboration combines ZHD’s unmistakable design language and inventive approach to materiality with Karimoku’s uncompromising quality standards, achieved through the implementation of the most advanced technologies and manufacturing processes,’ says Yao. 

‘We strongly believe in collaboration; it’s through a mutual exchange of ideas, skills and expertise that we can achieve great results,’ adds Kutay. ‘Karimoku is the ideal partner, matching our daring design concepts with their unrivalled quality of execution.’

INFORMATION

Zaha Hadid Design at Karimoku Commons is on view from 13 October – 3 December 2021

zhd.karimoku.com

ADDRESS

2-chōme-22-5 Nishiazabu
Minato City 
Tokyo 106-0031
Japan

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Ordrupgaard Art Museum in Denmark, home to world-class Danish and French art, has expanded its wings with the opening of a new addition by Snøhetta. The international design studio has added five new subterranean exhibition spaces to the historic building following the museum's previous expansion by the late master designer Zaha Hadid in 2005. Discreetly situated near Jægersborg Dyrehave, Copenhagen, the state-owned art museum which was originally an impressive three-winged neo-classical country mansion continues to combine historic Danish architecture with contemporary design.

Mostly underground, the extension creates a holistic route through the museum that meticulously connects Hadid’s distinctive black lava concrete extension with the museum’s permanent collection and original building. Three of the new five spaces are dedicated to the museum's extensive assembly of French impressionist paintings while the remaining two zones masterfully link the existing exhibition spaces. The new expansion produces a well-informed circular movement throughout the building which creates a genuine sense of fluidity as one meanders around looking at the world-renowned art pieces.

The largest exhibition area is a bold, steel-skinned structure that playfully glistens in the tree-lined landscape. Inspired by the paintings of impressionist giants Degas, Monet, and Renoir, the extension exterior delicately captures light and its changing qualities. Characterized by its diagonal cut in the landscape, faceted edges, and polished finish, the form carefully guides visitors to the main entrance of the Ordrupgaard. This volume is complemented by the natural stone steps and lush surrounding foliage.

To contrast the metal exterior, Snøhetta created soft and organic interiors that help to provide a warm atmosphere. Inside, gypsum boards are mounted to oak walls which allow curators to easily change the colour scheme of each room. The ceilings on the other hand, are wrapped in crisp oak veneer cassettes with cleverly placed light fittings that help place the artwork on the centre stage. As you walk through the museum, you notice how natural daylight floods the building - both when you leave the exhibition spaces and when entering the original museum building. Here, light helps signify the transition from one building to the next.

For over three decades, Snøhetta has designed some of the most impressive cultural buildings across the globe. The transdisciplinary practice merges architecture, landscape, and interior design with graphic, product, and digital design. For their extension of the Ordrupgaard Art Museum, they have carefully considered the original structures, blended old and new, and created a fluid, elegant and refined addition to the historic Danish building.

INFORMATION
snohetta.com

‘We wanted to create a retail experience which transported people forwards into time, where reality and science collide,’ says Sherry Huang, owner of experiential Shanghai-based luxury boutique ENG, which has opened its second outpost in Shanghai's TX Mall, a sprawling six-floor space that has the technologically savvy, experientially inclined Gen Z shopper in mind. ‘This gave birth to a strong sci-fi vision, referencing influences including Zaha Hadid for curves and shapes, Oscar Niemeyer for furniture installations, and also iconic science fiction classics like Gattaca, Minority Report and Westworld.’

‘We kept coming back to the “all-round” aspect of interiors in this sci-fi concept, a world where every surface in all dimensions is utilised in the absence of gravity drawing everything to the ground,’ adds Huang of ENG's second multi-brand concept store, a space that houses labels including Ottolinger, Martine Rose, Helmut Lang and Telfar. Its futuristic folds and metallic fixtures and fittings are interspersed with robotic arms, cyborg-like mannequins and geometric strips of lighting. Since ENG's inception in 2019, the boutique has focused on immersive retail, bridging cultural gaps between fashion, art and music, and stimulating the senses with holographic projections, vending machines and installations. It is also expanding the online domestic retail operations it runs through WeChat, and launching a global e-commerce platform.

Enter the futuristic world of ENG Shanghai

Shanghai’s TX Mall and its ENG outpost aim to bridge the gap between bricks-and-mortar and digital retail experiences. ‘Generally speaking, the young generation is more concerned with the cultural interpretation behind the clothes instead of the clothes themselves,’ Huang says, emphasising her decision to locate the new store within a leisure- and entertaintment-focused mall environment, and to dedicate 50 per cent of its floor space to ‘creative endeavours' that are not fashion focused. This is a consumer trend in luxury that we see not only in China but echoed around the world’s international markets, she adds.

One result of such a trend is ENG's collaboration with Valencia-born artist Carlos Saez, whose work has been exhibited at MoMA and The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), The National Portrait Gallery (London) and La Termica, Las Naves and Espai Tactel (Spain). The collaboration comprises a series of art pieces resembling robotic arachnids, which will be exhibited at the new ENG until September 2021. ‘Saez’s work uniquely explores the relationships between the human and technology. We were immediately drawn to the synergy between this and our own vision and philosophy around this topic, and the common ground in bringing to fore the aesthetic of machinery and mechanisation,’ Huang says. 

‘By building all-round fashion content in three-dimensions, the space encourages our customers to change their perspective and see things differently,' she adds. ‘This physically embodies what is at the heart of ENG.’

INFORMATION

523 Huaihai Zhong Lu 
near Yandang Lu
Huangpu District

Zürich’s Galerie Gmurzynska pays tribute to Zaha Hadid Design through an immersive exhibition of the late architect's work. Titled ‘Abstracting the Landscape’, the showcase presents furniture and objects created by Zaha Hadid during her six-year collaboration with the gallery as well as sketches by the late architect.

The gallery’s collaboration with Zaha Hadid started in 2010 with the idea to combine her aesthetic affinity to the Russian avant-garde with her architecture and design works. From early in her career, Hadid had been inspired by Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Suprematists, whom she also touched upon in her Architectural Association graduation thesis in 1976. 

This exhibition follows ‘Zaha Hadid and Suprematism’, a 2010 show exploring the link between Hadid’s work and Malevich, while another project by the gallery analysed affinities between Hadid and German artist Kurt Schwitters (which resulted in a permanent site-specific installation now on view at the gallery). ‘When we did the historic Suprematism exhibition with Zaha Hadid in 2010, we also published a book with Hatje Cantz for which she designed an elaborate box and three dimensional landscape. This is on display in the exhibition. Further, we are showing a video interview with Zaha as part of the BBC documentary on the Tate retrospective of Malevich, in which she speaks about her fascination with his work in particular,’ explains gallery director Mathias Rastorfer, demonstrating the multidisciplinarity of this collaboration.

‘Abstracting the Landscape’ features models and drawings from Hadid, as well as sculptural objects and never-before exhibited designs. It’s a deep dive into a dual visual universe: on one side are Hadid’s futuristic furniture designs, from the Mesa Table to the Liquid Glacial Stool or the folded metal Kuki Chair. On the other hand, are bidimensional works that speak of a more rationalist influence, including paintings and seemingly abstract drawings for projects such as Berlin’s Office Building West, the Highline condos and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery.

INFORMATION

Zaha Hadid Design ‘Abstracting The Landscape’ is on view until 1 July 2021
gmurzynska.com

ADDRESS

2 Paradeplatz
Zürich

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A common complaint about the plethora of high-end auto collectables that crowd the upper echelons of the car market is that very few are used and enjoyed. Despite manufacturers spending hundreds of millions to design, develop and build these strictly limited production runs, the most likely hypercar buyers are after profit, not performance, and will simply add their new acquisition to a roster of similarly outlandish machines and wait for inflation to do its work. 

As a result, the supercar builders are coming to the realisation that a luxury car is as much an objet d’art as a mode of transport, just as it’s long been accepted that many classics are simply too valuable to risk on the roads (let alone the track). New venture Superfuturedesign is proposing a simple solution this look-but-don't-touch approach. Working with Italian consultancy ASZarchitetti Group, the studio has created the Supercar Capsule, an interior design service aimed specifically at blending high-end autos into the home. With the car-mad Middle Eastern market in mind, each Capsule is custom-made for a specific model and space, with tailored materials and lighting designed to turn a car into a talking point.

As far as manufacturers go, Aston Martin is ahead of the game, having launched its own Automotive Galleries and Lairs division at last summer's Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Dovetailing bespoke design with architectural collaborations, the idea is to swathe your Aston Martin in an environment that it is as dramatic as the car itself. There’s a certain amount of cinematic synergy going on here – the company rarely lets an opportunity to highlight its long-standing association with the Bond films –and the end results are part Ken Adam, part Zaha Hadid, placing the car on a pedestal within a custom-designed space, with swooping staircases, walls of glass and other tropes of set design.

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German architect Fabian Evers explored similar territory with his Into the Wild concept house, designed for a private client. Evers, who has worked with Foster and Partners and UN Studio (where he worked on the design of the Mercedes-Benz Museum), ticks every box. An Alpine retreat with a spectacular view, it features a living space with a glass-walled car lift, allowing the owner's Mercedes SLS-AMG GT to be enjoyed when it's not being driven up and down the mountain roads. 

The chasm between personal mobility and traditional automotive expression yawns ever wider. Hypercars and supercars are high profile, profitable and hugely desirable. As the window of opportunity to use them as they were intended becomes ever smaller, these bespoke display spaces will be increasingly in demand.

INFORMATION
superfuture.design
astonmartin.com
fabianevers.com

Miami is a heady swirl of art deco architecture and luxury condos, tropical climes and pristine beaches, glitzy nightclubs and well-worn divebars. More recently, however, it has embraced a series of trophy buildings designed by the Who’s Who in architecture, from Rafael Viñoly to Frank Gehry, Foster + Partners, Bjarke Ingels, and Herzog & de Meuron. Here, we look at the architectural projects and real estate developments shaping Miami today.

Park Grove, OMA

Rem Koolhaas’ firm has already made its mark on a significant swathe of Miami, with the completion of a trio of buildings in Faena District in 2016. Now, it’s full steam ahead with a multi-tower residential enclave in Coconut Grove, backed by powerhouse developers The Related Group and Terra Group. Drawing inspiration from Biscayne Bay, OMA partner and project lead Shohei Shigematsu has imagined the towers as linked barrier islands. Each residence features open floor plans, 12ft ceilings with floor-to-ceiling windows, kitchens and bathrooms by designer William Sofield, Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, expansive terraces, and private elevator access. Over 50,000 sq ft of the development has been parcelled for luxury lifestyle amenities, ensuring residents will almost certainly never want to leave Park Grove. Read more here.

LOCATION: Coconut Grove, Miami
YEAR: 2013 – ongoing
KEY FEATURES: Wine tasting rooms with private storage, five acres of private gardens by Enzo Enea, art collection, mind-body wellness lounge and bio-sauna, Meyer Davis-designed interiors, restaurant by James Beard Award winner Michael Schwartz

One Thousand Museum, Zaha Hadid Architects

Described astutely in a PBS documentary as ‘one of the most complex skyscrapers ever to make it off the drawing board’, One Thousand Museum was Zaha Hadid’s final undertaking before her death in 2016. Completed at the end of last year, the 62-storey tower has already cemented its status as an architectural icon of Downtown Miami’s skyline, thanks to its bold exoskeleton design. The 84 museum-quality units have been realised as half-floor, full-floor and duplex residences, fitted with Gatto Cucine kitchens, Gaggenau and Sub-Zero appliances, Molteni & C custom closets, integrated smart technology, and a choice of luxurious finishes chosen by Hadid herself. Potential buyers can also choose from curated collection of turnkey residences by design houses Artefacto, B&B Italia, Roche Bobois, Meridiani, and Luxury Living Group. Read more here.

LOCATION: Biscayne Boulevard, Miami
YEAR: Q4 2019
KEY FEATURES: Exoskeleton design, aquatic centre, rooftop helipad, bank-quality vault, indoor/outdoor spa, private beach club, on-demand house car, multimedia theatre, specialised security and valet personnel

El Espacio 23, Jorge M Pérez

Forty years in the making, El Espacio 23 is a private museum dedicated to philanthropist and entrepreneur Jorge M Pérez’s vast art collection and first opened to the public during Art Basel Miami Beach last year. A passion project of the billionaire real estate developer, the space is housed in a repurposed 28,000 sq ft warehouse in Miami’s Allapattah neighbourhood and designed by Pérez himself who sees it as an extension of his home (amenities include a library, living room and bar area to entertain guests). The year-round programming includes a series of residencies for artists and curators representing a range of diverse range of disciplines and ethnic backgrounds, as well as activations inspired by the surrounding neighbourhood of Allapattah.

LOCATION: Allapattah, Miami
YEAR: Q4 2019
KEY FEATURES: Artist apartments reserved for residency programmes, shared workspace, library, bar and lounge area

Rubell Museum, Selldorf Architects

When Mera and Don Rubell were looking for an architect to convert a former industrial complex into a museum-worthy setting for their family’s collection, the Miami mega-collectors turned to art world favourite Annabelle Selldorf. Located in Miami’s emerging Allapattah neighbourhood, the museum will draw on the Rubells’ extensive holdings of over 7,200 works by more than 1,000 artists. Selldorf Architects gutted and transformed six warehouse units into a cohesive 100,000 sq ft campus – tripling the exhibition capacity of the collection’s previous space. The Rubell Museum now unfolds across a single level, comprising 40 galleries, a flexible events and performance space, a richly stocked research library, a bookstore, an outdoor bar and restaurant serving Basque cuisine. Read more here.

LOCATION: Allapattah, Miami
YEAR: Q4 2019
KEY FEATURES: Refinished concrete floors, single-storey complex, courtyard garden featuring rare plants native to the Everglades and Florida

Eighty Seven Park, Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Flanked by a 35-acre public park to the south and a private park to the north, few condominium projects in Miami – if any – can boast the green credentials of Renzo Piano’s Eighty Seven Park. ‘What we’re expressing is that this building belongs to nature,’ said the Italian architect when we first checked on the development’s progress in 2017. The 70 residences, spread over 18 elliptical floors, emphasise outdoor living – each comes with a generously sized wraparound terrace ranging from 15-25ft wide. Paris-based design firm RDAI notes the interior design was built around natural materials collected at the site: the Venetian terrazzo flooring that recalls Miami’s white sand beaches, for example. Read more here.

LOCATION: North Shore, Miami Beach
YEAR: Q4 2019
KEY FEATURES: 24-hour concierge and butler service, enoteca (wine shop), onsite botanist, oceanfront swimming pools, spa, state-of-the-art fitness centre, outdoor juice bar, private elevator access to all units

Monad Terrace, Ateliers Jean Nouvel

‘From the beginning – and always – it has been important to me to put the spirit of place in all my work,’ says Jean Nouvel. ‘Here in Miami, I wanted to create a building that is like the reflection of the sun on the water.’ Comprising 59 luxury waterfront residences nestled around a shimmering lagoon, Monad Terrace in South Beach is the Pritzker Prize winner’s first and only residential project in Florida. The striking sawtooth façade is made up of honeycomb glass screens, which diffuse sunlight and provide privacy to residents while maintaining unobstructed views of Biscayne Bay. Vertical gardens on the north and south façades offer additional shade.

LOCATION: South Beach, Miami Beach
YEAR: 2020 (under construction)
KEY FEATURES: Honeycomb sawtooth façade, 116ft swimming pool and hot tub, climbing gardens, private or semi-private elevator access, wellness centre, residents’ lounge

Residences by Armani/Casa, César Pelli

This sleek, monolithic oceanfront tower was the last project designed by venerable architect César Pelli before his death in July last year. The 56-storey structure is composed of ‘two intertwined sail-like shapes, billowing and expanding as they rise’, says Gregg Jones, principal of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, while its blue-hued glass was designed to flow seamlessly into the water below. Giorgio Armani has stepped in personally to deliver Armani/Casa’s first residential project in the US, envisioning elegantly understated interiors fitted materials like white gold leaf, onyx and bronzed mirrors. Imagined as ‘homes in the sky’, the residences feature expansive terraces, master suites with his-and-hers bathrooms, and are wired with smart technology to access select building amenities.

LOCATION: Sunny Isles Beach
YEAR: Q4 2019
KEY FEATURES: Ocean-view yoga studio with Pilates equipment, Armani/Privé lounge, museum-quality art collection, 24-hour multilingual concierge service, cigar room, wine cellar, two-storey revitalisation spa, exclusive beach amenities, classic Hollywood-inspired movie theatre

Mr C Residences, Arquitectonica

Fourth-generation members of the storied Cipriani family, Maggio and Ignazio Cipriani are the forces behind Mr C, a hospitality and residential brand for luxury modern living. Following projects in Los Angeles and New York, the brothers are now making waves with Miami, teaming up with Terra’s David Martin, architect Ray Fort of Arquitectonica, and interior design firm Meyer Davis to bring a taste of old world Europe to a bayside residential tower in Coconut Grove. The 118 residences in the 21-storey building will feature 11ft ceilings, open floor plan layouts, private outdoor terraces, custom-designed Italian kitchens by ITALKRAFT with terrazzo and quartz countertops, European porcelain tile floors, and spa-like bathrooms.

LOCATION: Coconut Grove, Miami
YEAR: Expected Q3 2022
KEY FEATURES: Sail-inspired design, private Bellini bar on the pool deck, speciality gourmet market, lifestyle and nautical concierge, Bayshore owners’ club, peloton studio, indoor yoga studio, in-home delivery from on-site café

Compared to most building and construction that tends to occur at the speed of light these days, it’s been a relatively lengthy road for Zaha Hadid’s 1000 Museum residential tower in Miami, which was finally completed at the end of last year. Since the ambitious and complex design was unveiled in 2014, with construction beginning in 2015, the building has become a symbol for the swift evolution of Miami – from a beachy, Art Deco enclave to one of the most colourful and cosmopolitan luxury capitals of the world.

In the developers’ Louis Birdman, Gilberto Bomeny, Gregg Covin, Todd Glaser and Kevin Venger’s hands, One Thousand Museum – Hadid’s final undertaking before her passing – is an impressive 62-storey tower that has already become an architectural icon in downtown Miami. From its complex exo-skeleton structure to an array of stunning interior details, including a voluminous spiral staircase in the fitness and wellness centre and a series of fluid filleted lines that articulate and animate the building’s main entrance, the final result does true justice to Hadid’s enduring legacy.

There’s not much lacking in the 84 units, which have been designed as half-floor, full-floor and duplex residences. Each boasting oversized terraces and East-West views of Biscayne Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the Miami skyline, the well-heeled units also come fitted with a bounty of custom-designed features ranging from walk-in closets by Poliform and kitchens and cabinetry by Gatto Cucine.

The residence’s selection of amenities is where the development truly exceeds expectations. From a private rooftop helipad, a bank-quality vault and safe deposit box in each unit, and an aquatic center with an indoor pool to a two-level fitness and wellness spa, a private event space known as the Sky Lounge with a daily menu by chef Mame Sow and a multimedia theatre for screenings, presentations and lectures, One Thousand Museum has definitely taken most of its residents’ needs into consideration.

Located directly in front of Museum Park and the Perez Art Museum Miami and just minutes away from Wynwood Arts District, Brickell Financial Centre and the Miami Design District, the residential tower has the best of Miami on its doorstep.

INFORMATION
zaha-hadid.com

Juxtaposed with the Meixi Lake in the historic city of Changsha, southern China, are three distinct, white structures resembling flower petals when viewed from atop, and something of whipped cream when viewed from the side.

Standing out in the smoggy city landscape, these three alien structures comprise the recently completed Changsha Meixihu International Culture and Arts centre – one of the latest creations of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). Spanning 115,000sq m, it is the largest and most versatile cultural centre in Hunan province, including in its span a contemporary art museum, a large theatre, and a small theatre each with slightly different aesthetics.

Opened to the public on 30 November, the contemporary art museum, MICA, was the final structure to be completed in the 8-year-long project. Within the eight exhibition halls, that total 10,000sq m of space, MICA is holding its first exhibition by MOTSE, a team of 40 Shenzhen-based artists, scientists and musicians using interactive devices and new media to explore contemporary culture.

MICA’s architectural climax is the large atrium with its boomerang-shaped window sweeping across the ceiling. The light-soaked space has been designed to host installations and events and direct visitors towards the workshop space, lecture theatre, café and museum shop.

Adjacent to the museum is the 1,800-seat Grand Theatre, a versatile space with a wood clad interior and flowing cream-coloured ceiling that swirls upwards like a sandstorm. In the third building, flexibility is also key to the design of the smaller theatre – its 500-seat multipurpose hall can be transformed into multiple configurations to host plays, fashion shows, music performances, banquets and commercial events. 

The three civic institutions complement each other with different opening times throughout the day, much like their organic architecture signified by fluidity and curves – a uniquely Zaha Hadid design.

INFORMATION

zaha-hadid.com

‘What is art?’ seems to be a never-ending debate. This time, though, it’s not the critics looking down their noses, but in fact, an artist forging the dialogue. Recently opened at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), an exhibition by sculptor and photographer Lauren Henkin returns to her original study of space with eight site-specific sculptures.

In the series Props, she wagers a challenge to museumgoers ‘to consider what their criteria is in determining whether something is art’. The CAC, in fact, is the first realised project in the US by the late Zaha Hadid, and the first American museum designed by a woman. The building itself was actually the springboard for Henkin, who originally studied architecture and recently ‘returned to sculpture, which always felt like my native language’, she explains.

‘In early 2018, I proposed creating sculptural interventions that incorporate the surrounding space and architecture into the actual pieces, where the entire environment would meld into a singular experience,’ the artist says after she met with CAC curator Steven Matijcio back in 2015. Though Matijcio has since left the museum (he’s now director of the Blaffer Art Museum in Houston), he was ‘looking at work that could live in unconventional spaces within the centre’ and intrigued by ‘Lauren’s approach to this architectural interruption’.

Props are quite literally interrupting the CAC’s galleries and passageways, key public spaces which the museum has previously kept free of any art display. For example, ‘I noticed that many people use the staircase instead of the elevator to move vertically through the building,’ says Henkin, so Prop 5 was imagined, fractal plywood that disrupts the building’s main staircase. But these interventions aren’t merely about their physical locations. ‘I wanted to break with the formality of building’s materials by using raw lumber, PVC pipes, electrical cables and more – materials that are rough, unkempt and unexpected,’ Henkin adds, in contrast to Hadid’s concrete and glass structure.

These works, in turn, create an active dialogue to Hadid’s space, something both Henkin and Matijcio both had at the forefront of their minds when creating the show. ‘Being a dynamic, evolving and timely non-collecting contemporary arts space, one must keep everything active – even the space itself,’ explains Matijcio. And Henkin’s works are ‘a captivating and considered debate with Zaha, spoken through materials, space and structure’. But whether constructions of pipes and plywood are themselves art? Well, Matijco replies, ‘When one exits their comfort zone, new ideas and navigations can take root. That was always the goal.’

INFORMATION

‘Lauren Henkin: Props’, until March 2020, Contemporary Arts Center. contemporaryartscenter.org

ADDRESS

Contemporary Arts Center
44 East 6 Street
Cincinnati

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Being one of the world's fastest-growing transport hubs, due to the increasing demand for travel in the region, Beijing has just launched a brand new airport in a bid to expand its capacity and highlight its design credentials in a single move. Located a mere 20 minutes from central Beijing, the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, deigned by Zaha Hadid Architects has now been inaugurated by Chinese president Xi Jinping. 

ZHA organised the airport around a central courtyard space, as a series of interconnected wings that send passengers through the necessary zones towards their gate of departure. This flowing internal arrangement is reflected in the similarly flowing architecture, which is defined by ZHA's signature dynamic shapes and soft but dramatic lines. Meanwhile the grand courtyard at its heart acts as a multi-layered meeting space, containing a wealth of passenger services and amenities. 

The expansive structure's white, vaulted roof ensures both structural flexibility and integrity, but also allows plenty of natural light in, while providing a sculptural feature as visitors walk across the different areas towards their destination. At the same time, five piers radiate from the central hub allowing a maximum number of aircrafts to be parked directly at the terminal to minimise distances for the passengers' convenience. 

Striking looks are matched by green credentials in this design, with photovoltaic power generation systems installed throughout the airport, centralised heating with waste heat recovery and rainwater collection, and a water management system. This helps ‘prevent flooding and counter the summer ‘heat island’ effect on the local microclimate', explain the architects. 

This airport was designed to alleviate congestion at Beijing's existing international airport - but it also set to create a thrilling spatial experience for the architecture enthusiasts, and not only.

INFORMATION

zaha-hadid.com

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is behind an upgrade of the Elbe River promenade and flood barrier at Niederhafen in Hamburg. The design combines much-needed modernisation and reinforcement of the city’s flood protection system with social space for the city, and new urban connections between different neighbourhoods.

Stretching between St. Pauli Landungsbrücken and Baumwall at Niederhafen, the walkway clad in dark, anthracite-coloured granite ebbs and flows, yet never drifts below 10m in width ensuring plenty of space for all types of activity from jogging, performing or setting up food stalls.

Now full of life, it’s easy to forget that the first aim of the promenade is its role as a flood barrier. Hamburg suffered dramatic storm surge floods in 1962 that took the lives of 315 people as well as destroying the homes of 60,000 residents. In response to this, flood barriers reaching 7.2m above sea level were built. However, in 2006 the city realised that this aging structure was overburdened and needed significant reinforcement, and launched a competition.

The new design was determined by modern analysis of Hamburg’s flooding characteristics done with hydrology and computer simulations providing much better accuracy. Carefully engineered to protect the city it rises 8.6m above sea level in the eastern section, it rises at 8.9m in the western section to protect the city from winter storm surges and extreme high tides.

Precise engineering is at the barriers core, yet the architects playfully formed the promenade around its key function, scooping out and adding where they could to create a dynamic riverside experience. At one point, a three-storey restaurant has been carved out, with a cantilevering top floor that treats diners to a panoramic River Elbe experience.

The promenade swells to the west looking downstream to the port, and compresses to the east, leading visitors to the water’s edge – all the while oscillating as you follow it, varying in width to open up wide amphitheatre-style steps in light grey granite both sides of the route. Walking along the street the urban journey is amplified by the new promenade; a cycle path runs parallel, the cut-outs from the steps reveal glimpses of the masts and superstructures of ships on the river, and space for shops and public utilities make sure no useful urban space is wasted.

INFORMATION

zaha-hadid.com

Zaha Hadid Architects' virtual reality division (ZHVR) debuts its first foray into audio. Loop – an immersive listening lounge concept – pairs the firm’s signature design vernacular with audio technology from sound design group L-Acoustics Creations. Originally created for professional venues, the technology has been reconfigured to form this idea for an immersive, personal auditorium.

ZHVR drew from geometric forms and contemporary engineering to produce the lounge’s free-flowing, circular design. Its smooth surfaces resemble stone formations, from the semi-circular ring orbiting the central resting space to the spherical system at its reverse.

Beneath these textures, audio alchemy occurs. The lounge is driven by L-Acoustics Creations’ multichannel platform dubbed ‘the Island', which delivers ultra-high resolution audio across 24 independent channels. The idea? To hear sound as visualised by artists in the studio, or fully immerse yourself in the world of a film in a more immersive, and personalised way than previously possible.

A case in point for showcasing the creative possibilities presented by virtual reality, ZHVR designed the entire concept via digital technologies, including advanced modeling platforms and mixed reality software. Throughout the project's design lifespan, each element was examined in isolation, in high-definition virtual reality. This enabled the two firms to get closer to Loop’s design, aiding deeper ergonomic and material scrutiny in the pursuit of audio-visual ingenuity.

INFORMATION
zaha-hadid.com

l-acoustics-creations.com

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is celebrating the exterior completion of Opus, the Omiyat mixed-used development in Dubai. Found in the vicinity of the city's Burj Khalifa district, the Opus building offers a strking new view from every angle, appearing to morph and shift within its own abstract cube outline.

A central free-form void defines the overall building's shape, dividing it into two towers. The four storey atrium at ground level marks the start of the two towers’ upward journey. After that, they separate, twisting poetically as if they had been pulled apart. They’ll meet again at 71m, where an asymmetric, 38m-wide, three-storey bridge connects them on the structure's one side.

While organic and soft, the building's form feels futuristic, which is accentuated by its glimmering glass facade. The void opens up mind-bending views of the building inwards upon itself. Its curved inward edges playfully juxtapose the hard exterior edge of the cube.

Mahdi Amjad, Omiyat's executive chairman and CEO is pleased: ‘The design conveys the remarkably inventive quality of ZHA’s work; expressing a sculptural sensibility that reinvents the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior.’ 

In 2020, the Opus Dubai will open officially to guests of the ME by Melia hotel – which, if it is anything like the practice's Morpheus Macau that completed in 2018, is certainly set to enthrall. And with 12 restaurants, a rooftop bar and 56,000 sq ft of office space inside it, the building will no doubt become a new attraction for Dubai.

INFORMATION

zaha-hadid.com

SODA studio and Everpress have launched a t-shirt collection to raise money for London charity, the Childhood Trust. SODA studio brought together a creative group of London-based designers to react to the theme of ‘Sanctuary’. The theme is connected to the work of the Childhood Trust, which helps grassroots charities in London to alleviate the impact of child poverty.

The illustrators, artists and designers involved have rallied together and each dedicated their time for free, so 100 per cent of the profits from the project will reach the Childhood Trust. Spanning mediums and design disciplines, the group includes SODA, artists Corin Kennington and Jonny Gent; designers Hato, Pentagram, Lovers and Here Design; illustrators Inari Sirola, Jamie Edler and Lawrence Slater; photographer Lewis Khan; and architects DK-CM and Zaha Hadid Design.

While SODA contributed its network, curatorial skills and enthusiasm, east London based Everpress provided its progressive platform. Everpress is an online marketplace founded to help creative people with building up a revenue stream through limited run apparel campaigns. As well as empowering creatives, the platform also brings the consumer unique designs and helps to fight the oft-bland products and wasteful nature of conventional retail.

Each design up for grabs is unique and thoughtful – from Hato's simple and calming navy blue circle, to Here Design's grid of little houses, Corin Kennington's typographic twisting of the word ‘dream’ and SODA's Escher-meets-Archigram style graphic.

The concept of ‘sanctuary’ was important to SODA studio as it related directly to the Childhood Trust's work. SODA recently worked with the Childhood Trust to make improvements to its Venture Centre in North Kensington, reaching out for contributions from its architecture and design network and creating bright, light and welcoming spaces across the centre to positively enhance the day to day environment for users.

Katie Stamp, head of graphics at SODA, explained how the experience of the collaboration showed how design really can improve lives: ‘It’s so important for children to feel that they can spend time in safe environments, which is something a lot of us take for granted,’ she says.

INFORMATION

The limited edition ‘Sanctuary’ t-shirt campaign runs until 1 November. For more information, visit the Everpress website and the SODA website

The Napoli Afragola railway station, the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed transportation gateway to the south of Italy located 12km north of Naples, has been photographed on its first birthday. The station opened in June 2017 and was originally commissioned as a response to the increase in demand for train travel in Italy – that has increased by 50 per cent over the last decade.

The sweeping design was structured by the main concourse that forms an urbanised public bridge, connecting communities either side of the eight railway tracks. The architecture was defined by ZHA through examining the proposed circulation routes of the passengers and how they would traverse this walkway to reach the platforms. Yet this bridge became an elevated building that houses all the station's facilities for departing, arriving and connecting passengers – bringing people in from the large entrances at each end of the station, and flowing them through the multi-levelled bridge layered with public zones, shops and amenities.

A reinforced concrete base supports the elevated concourse of steel ribs clad in Corian® and topped off with a glazed roof. The curved structural concrete elements were built using technologies initially developed for the construction of the ZHA-designed MAXXI Museum in Rome. The wooden formwork was replaced by prefabricated steel units, and the double curves that define the sweeping form of the station's roof were realised with CNC milled polystyrene formwork.

The station is an important part of the Italian train infrastructure – it serves four high speed inter-city lines, three inter-regional lines as well as a local commuter line. It is pivotal to the 15 million residents of Campania, Puglia, Molise, Calabria and Sicily in southern Italy, and is also a national connection to the north of Italy and the rest of Europe.

The future holds more for the rail station. High speed rail services will eventually connect with Bari and Reggio Calabria with the north of Italy and Europe. By 2022 the new rail infrastructure will serve the entire Campania region, integrating with the Napoli Cancello line and the Circumvesuviana commuter railway extension further to the south. Watch this space.

INFORMATION 

For more information, visit the Zaha Hadid Architects website

Futuristic architecture mesmerises and inspires. From structures designed to show us what the future might look like, to ones that experiment with challenging our senses - building design has never shied away from expressive, innovative, subversive forms. Modernist architecture, after all, looked pretty futuristic when it first emerged in the 20th century, its clean, sometimes dystopian brutalist architecture and occasionally cruise-ship streamlined volumes indicating a path into what the built environment might look like in years to come. In more recent times, parametric design has also been hailed as the way to imagine the future - and today, versions of sustainable architecture explorations offer yet another different path and meaning of what represents futuristic building now.

21 examples of futuristic architecture from across the globe

Morpheus hotel, Macau, by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 150,000 sq m, 40 storey flagship Morpheus hotel in Macau is the final chapter of Melco Resorts and Entertainment’s sprawling City of Dreams resort development, combining casino gaming, shopping and four other hotels located on the Cotai Strip. The unconventional monolithic structure features a freeform exoskeleton that rises from ground level, wrapping around a pair of towers and a cathedral-like central atrium to create a gargantuan block punctuated by three undulating voids that reflect the figure eight. Inside, three futuristic sky bridges connect the main circulation cores while providing vertigo-inducing communal dining and lounge spaces.

Goetheanum, Switzerland, by Rudolf Steiner

When Austrian architect and thinker Rudolf Steiner developed his philosophy of Anthroposophy in Germany at the turn of the 20th century, he soon came to require a place from which to spread its teachings of spirituality and science. Named after German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose works Steiner studied and revered, the Goetheanum was therefore born for this purpose on the rising slopes of the Jura Mountains overlooking the town of Dornach, Switzerland. One of the largest reinforced concrete buildings of its time, the Goetheanum has an enigmatic design that combines the charismatic volume of Gaudí, with the zeal of an Orthodox onion dome and the command of a Brutalist masterpiece. 

TECLA by Mario Cucinella Architects with WASP

Mario Cucinella Architects has built the world’s very first 3D printed house made entirely from raw earth. Named ‘Tecla’, and built in collaboration with specialists in the field WASP, the structure demonstrates the point where natural materials meet technology and has just been unveiled in Italy’s Massa Lombarda region, near the city of Ravenna. ‘Adopted from one of Italo Calvino’s Imaginary Cities, one that is forever taking shape, the name ‘Tecla’ evokes the strong link between past and future combining the materiality and spirit of timeless ancient dwellings with the 21st-century world of high-tech production,’ say the architects.

Suspension House, California, by Fougeron Architects

The Suspension House is one of those rare architectural statements that only comes along once in a generation. The combination of site, vision, and skill is so often squandered, but San Francisco-based architect Anne Fougeron has translated her clients’ desires into spectacular reality, respecting the wildness of the site without compromising on the clarity of the design. The existing house occupies the kind of site that is not only rare but actually forbidden (California no longer allows homes to be built across a creek), so Fougeron and her team had to make the most of the opportunity. The original house had to be retrofitted with new structure to support the load of the new additions, all while touching only lightly on the ground. 

Shapeshifter House, Nevada, USA by OPA

‘The American desert has a history of being understood as a place of lack, emptiness, or otherness', says San Francisco-based architect Luke Ogrydziak. ‘Framed as a barren wasteland, a kind of “no place”, the desert has been appointed the perfect test site, a place for all genres of experimentation – military, scientific, and social.' That's exactly what intrigued Ogrydziak and his partner Zoe Prillinger, of architecture studio OPA, when they started working on their latest project, a single family house for a creative couple in a residential suburb of Reno. ‘Enduringly mercurial, [the desert] is a sandbox that changes forms to fit the imaginations of the user, a space of ambivalence and uncertainty', Ogrydziak continues. The house, fittingly entitled Shapeshifter House, is situated in the desert landscape of Nevada, and at the same time draws on this soft, sandy topography, which heavily influenced its striking, origami-like forms.

Mathematics gallery at the London Science Musuem, by Zaha Hadid Architects

‘Mathematics: The Winton Gallery’ is a permanent public exhibition designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for the Science Museum in London. Inspired by aerodynamics – with the revolutionary Handley Page ‘Gugnunc’ aeroplane soaring through its midst – the gallery architecture descends down onto the displays, its swooping voluminous curves wrapping up the objects into a convincing case history on how mathematics is the pivot of our human world.

The gallery was designed around 100 artefacts selected from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics collections at the museum. A symmetrical pod-like structure made of fabric with a frame of powder-coated aluminium engulfs existing columns in the gallery, creating a central seating area and folding itself around display cases all lit by a soft and unearthly glow, which fades from yellow to pink to light purple.

Eppich House, West Vancouver, Canada, by Arthur Erickson

The Arthur Erickson-designed Eppich House, created with his long-time collaborator Nick Milkovich, is both time capsule and design beacon. The house is a modernist classic, built for a steel manufacturer and his family, but it is far removed from its more rectilinear relations, such as Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. Its curvilinear lines and response to the site are much more Frank Lloyd Wright than Mies – a late 1970s equivalent to Fallingwater that took a decade to complete, with owner Hugo Eppich acting as general contractor.

Everything inside the house, including the curved steel furniture, was custom-designed by Erickson and his partner Francisco Kripacz, and manufactured by Eppich’s Ebco Industries. ‘Steel is different in nature than concrete,’ said the late Erickson of the house. ‘It’s a malleable material, like plastic. I wanted to show its plasticity by taking I-beams and curving them.’ But more than anything, this house is a device to bring the outside in. Chrome-plated, polished steel columns, extensive glazing and water elements reflect and refract the surrounding greenery, creating a translucent residential cocoon.

DUO, Singapore, by Büro Ole Scheeren

Büro Ole Scheeren’s DUO is sheathed with a honeycombed grid of hexagons – a pattern Scheeren used with great effect on his first Singaporean project at the Interlace - the striking silhouette of the twin-towered mixed-used development more than holds its own against its senior neighbours including IM Pei’s majestic Gateway Towers, Paul Rudolph’s griddled Concourse, and DP Architects’ Golden Mile Complex found along Singapore’s Beach Road.

University of Iowa’s Visual Arts Building, by Steven Holl

The University of Iowa Visual Arts Building is a strong three-dimensional composition of stacked concrete-frame boxes that creates a carefully articulated façade of interlinked volumes, as well as seven courtyards. These, together with several minimalist square openings that dot the façades, ensure plenty of natural light and ventilation inside, bringing sunlight deep into the structure’s generous floorplates. The perforated Rheinzink (zinc) cladding also works to this end. At the same time, its pattern adds texture to the external appearance and lends the building its cool, steely grey hue.

Yangzhou bookstore, Yangzhou, China

At this Yangzhou bookshop an optical illusion turns an ordinary, rectangular room into a cylindrical tunnel. Created by Shanghai-based studio XL-Muse for book retailers Zhongshuge, a black mirrored floor paired with two walls of arched shelving helps to create a seemingly never-ending funnel of books. The design is inspired by the rich cultural heritage of Yangzhou, said to be a historical gathering place for literati and poets. The lead designer Li Xiang took inspiration from a verse in the classic Chinese romance novel A Dream of Red Mansions, by Cao Xueqin, which is thought to refer to the area in which the shop now stands. Visitors are supposed to flow with the river, swept along by the black mirrored floor, deeper into the bookshop and ‘into the vast ocean of knowledge,’ explains Xiang.

EUR Convention Hall and Hotel/The Cloud, Rome, Italy, by Studio Fuksas

This eco-friendly complex is a mammoth of a project, comprising everything from auditoria, exhibition spaces and a hotel, to 55,000 sq m of public space, and bringing together trade and tourism in the Eternal City. Located in Rome’s business district of EUR, the centre is divided into three distinct architectural concepts, explain the architects: the basement, the Theca and Cloud, and the Blade. These respectively host the main foyer, information point and congress and exhibition hall; the glass and metal clad public space for conferences, exhibitions and large-scale events, as well as an auditorium; and the 439-room hotel.

The Cloud in particular is one of the complex’s most eye-catching design gestures. Its cocoon-like form sits hovering over the public areas, made of highly advanced membrane fibreglass and flame-retardant silicone. High-tech applications also extend to the building’s environmental strategies, which include a natural ventilation system, a rainwater harvesting system and photovoltaic panels.

Colorado Springs’ Air Force Academy, US, SOM

The Center for Character and Leadership Development (CCLD) is an addition to SOM’s 1954 design of Colorado Springs’ Air Force Academy. The building is a symbolic yet practical structure totals 46,000 sq ft and is a critical meeting point between public and cadet areas of the site, acting as a nexus due to its select location by different sectors of the building which are each designated to professors, cadets, important visitors and the public. 

The building contains a forum, a flexible working space, collaboration conference and seminar rooms, along with a library, offices and an honour board room where important matters concerning the Cadet Honor Code are held. A 105 ft skylight looms over the CCLD’s visitors casting natural light into the depths of the building. The glass structure was designed to align with the position of the North Star, to the signify the Academy’s guiding values. An architectural and engineering marvel, the dynamic structure is composed from Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS), and exists without any embellishment or ornamentation, its sleek connections working in aesthetic harmony with SOM’s refined and pared-back design.

Sheats Goldstein house, Los Angeles, by John Lautner

With its sloping angles and clam-shell-like structure that boast striking views of Los Angeles, the Sheats Goldstein residence was designed by architect John Lautner in the early 1960s, and immortalised in pop culture through films like The Big Lebowski and fashion shoots by legends like Herb Ritts, Helmut Newton and Michel Comte (as well as ads for Jimmy Choo). The house’s owner – businessman and fashion/basketball aficionado James F Goldstein – has ensured that the house will be experienced for generations to come by  donating the residence to LACMA. Pictured here, interiors and custom furniture at the house.

Origami House, Kuwait, by AGi Architects

This house gained its nickname the Origami House owing to its resemblance to a large piece of grey paper that has been bent and folded into shape. The 1,300 sq m home is formed from reinforced concrete and a lot of stainless steel, which was used to make the doors, balconies and some of the windows. Middle Eastern and Islamic architectural styles can be observed all over the house – in the use of mashrabiya latticework in the screens, for example, through which the sun dapples the interior space. The internal spaces are organised around a central courtyard, where a concrete pool provides a focal point.

The Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, by HOK

Home to the Atlanta Falcons football team and Atlanta United FC soccer team and located just next to Atlanta’s Georgia Dome on the western edge of Downtown, the Mercedes Benz Stadium is notable for its ‘Ocular Roof’, which features eight ETFE-clad petals that slide past each other simultaneously on steel trusses, simulating an opening flower or camera aperture, and eliciting more than a few gaping expressions. The apparatus – emblazoned, of course, with the Mercedes-Benz logo – can open or close in about ten minutes. The roof’s lightweight ETFE membrane allows natural light to filter inside. The rest of the stadium contains eight triangular steel and glass sections whose angular sides echo the logo of the Atlanta Falcons, and create a stunning imprint on the Atlanta skyline.

The CoFuFun station plaza, Tenri, Japan, by Nendo

The CoFuFun station plaza at Tenri Station in Japan, designed by Nendo, is an upbeat urban intervention and a new community hub for Tenri City in Nara prefecture. The 6000 sq m plaza features a series of white circular structures, that serve as multi-functional pavilions hosting a café, shops, information kiosk, bike rental, a play area, an outdoor stage and a meeting area. The orbiting concrete forms are also historically informed, referencing ancient Japanese burial structures ’cofun,’ common to Nara which can be found dotted around the mountainous area surrounding the city.

La Seine Musicale, Paris, France, by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines

Designed by Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, La Seine Musicale on Île Seguin is an icon of the 21st century and a gateway to west Paris. The most striking feature of La Seine Musicale is the egg-shaped auditorium made of glass and a lattice of timber laminate from a woven spruce wood and accessorised with a dynamic 800 sq m sail of photovoltaic cells, which shields this core from direct sunlight. This agile and entirely solar-powered form is mounted on rails and follows the path of the sun at 15 minute intervals as it progresses, supplying the auditorium with energy.

A warm and organic interior contrasts the technology-inspired futuristic outer-shell. Designed to bring audiences closer to musicians, a gentle terrace of seating holds a capacity of 1,150 people. The Grand Lobby, pictured, is a covered ‘street’ that progresses through the heart of La Seine Musicale and out the other side. This was a route planned by Jean Nouvel, when he set out his masterplan for the Île Seguin in 2010 – a complex task for the long and narrow 2.35 hectare site.

Centro Botin, Santander, Spain, by Renzo Piano

The bulky tank shaped building of Centro Botin is covered in the 280,000 pearly, circular ceramic tiles. Like the scales of a fish, the surface effervesces in the sunlight, absorbing reflections from the sea. The volume of the building has been sliced neatly down the centre, and opened up to reveal two façades of glass (which allow floods of light into the gallery and auditorium spaces inside). These two volumes were hoisted up onto slim stilts and a fully glazed ground floor restaurant, café and shop.

Piano moved the circulation to the exterior, so the volumes are accessible and connected by light walkways and staircases of steel and glass. The submarine-style building quotes the industrial waterfront economy of the city, which originated as a Roman port settlement, and now is a major cruise ship terminal. Driving down the S-10 road into the city, from the rocky and green countryside of Cantabria, Santander’s urban identity is defined by the warehouses, tanks and containers of the fishing and ship building industries that line the waterfront.

Exhibition road Quarter, V&A , London, UK, by AL_A

A sleek new ‘quarter’ designed by AL_A, led by Amanda Levete, for London’s Victoria & Albert Museum includes a huge performance space, art handling units, a cargo entrance and a modern courtyard entrance, which smoothly ensconces a café and shop into its porcelain-tiled midst, and guides visitors to the new entrance hall. With the open contemporary courtyard, the museum hopes to interest new audiences into the space which includes a futuristic-looking metallic oculus, and a sweeping aluminium extension that glides between the existing Grade I building.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Eighteen metres below ground is where the rest of the story plays out; the 11,100 sq m column-less Sainsbury Gallery – which stretches 38m in length – will be a new venue for live music and ‘performance’. In a spirit of renewal and evolution of the much-loved museum, Levete weaves sensitive references to its heritage throughout her contemporary design. The 11,000 handmade porcelain tiles that coat the courtyard in a luminous surface were inspired by the collections.

Molecure Pharmacy, Taichung, Taiwan, by Waterfrom Design

A combination of natural and man-made materials were selected for the interiors of this pharmacy in contrast to the often unwelcoming, sterile composition of pharmacies. Molecure Pharmacy in Taichung, Taiwan, has been designed with a modern holistic concept in mind. Designed by local architecture practice Waterfrom Design, the interior design encourages an ambience that endorses a healthy state of mind.

The open dispensing area known as the ‘green laboratory’ features a large counter, the base made from the trunk of a century-old tree. The walls are decorated with white beach pebbles and lined with floor-to-ceiling metal and lightweight glass modular-systems. Display cases are stocked in abundance with attractive remedial products and antique medicine bottles and a bronzed spiral staircase stands in the centre of the store, cleverly imitating the double-helix structure of a DNA molecule.

Innovation lab for China Resources Group, Huizhou, China, by Aim Architecture

Design and technology often go hand-in-hand, and never more so than in the places where great ideas begin: science labs. Shanghai-based studio Aim Architecture combined these factors for the innovation lab for China Resources Group, one of China’s largest industrial conglomerates. The space, set within an existing building where it occupies a fairly compact 700 sq m within a single floor, is situated in the Chinese city of Huizhou, which is part of the Pearl River Delta River industrial region. 

There is an all-white, aluminium-clad, futuristic interior data hub; a room filled with partition screens and movable whiteboards for creative workshops; and several meeting and presentation areas of varying sizes that are defined by fabric curtains. The interior lighting is embedded within the acoustic ceiling panels, becoming an ornament in itself and defining the space with its strong linearity. A strong palette contrasted with colour blocking in black or white in certain areas creates a varied experience and different atmospheres, bringing a sense of diversity and generosity to this relatively modest-sized interior.

Much like Las Vegas, Macau trades in outré fantasies. Straight laced restraint holds no currency here and, in a way, this might explain why the city was the ideal platform for Zaha Hadid Architects’ otherworldly design for the Morpheus – the highest profile newbie to open in Melco Resorts’ sprawling City of Dreams complex of hotels, restaurants, shops and casino.

Billed as the world’s first free-form high-rise architecture (translated – the geometric grid handily dispenses with internal walls and columns), the 40-storey tower’s internal spaces form a dizzying structural kaleidoscope of voids and atriums.

This physical ‘rubberiness’ has also allowed the architects to fold the interiors around 12 panoramic lifts and two soaring atrium bridges; and Hong Kong-based Remedios Studio to mould the 770 rooms into varying configurations and scale, including six duplex villas lined in black stainless steel and 1000 thread-count cotton sheets, and a 510 sqm penthouse villa which features a central pool around which the living spaces are clustered.

If doing laps in the 40th-storey pool feels too much like being enclosed in a Möbius-esque maze, retreat to one of the two Alain Ducasse restaurants designed by Jouin Manku or, for a macaron-fuelled sugar rush, the Pierre Hermé Lounge.

INFORMATION
Website

ADDRESS

Estrada do Istmo
Cotai

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The fruits of Zaha Hadid Architects’ labour might be typically experienced on a grandiose scale, but in New York, the firm’s design for a travelling retail pop-up is packing just as big of a punch. Il Makiage, a new make-up label, made its global debut last week with the opening of its first physical presence in Manhattan’s Soho district. Armed with a bold typeface and a striking black and white palette, Il Makiage’s graphic identity served as an easy jumping off point for the architectural office to design a nomadic pavilion to match.

Configured out of ribbon-like strips of black and white, the pavilion’s parametric design exudes a seductive rhythm that mirrors the ethos of the brand. Splices in the structure that allow glimpses of the exterior from within (and vice versa) also bring a unique tension to the space. Made from fiberglass reinforced plastic, the structure is comprised of contrasting glossy and matt surfaces – another reference to the label’s packaging design – that merge together, interlaced.

‘We were really inspired by the icons of the brand and the packaging, which uses a black and white motif and wraps around the corner [of the boxes] that I thought it was very architectural,’ says Kar-Hwa Ho, the firm’s head of interior architecture. ‘We took those codes and developed this structure for the pavilion.’

To echo the intimacy of putting on make-up, the self-contained structure ensures that the focus is placed on the products and each customer’s personal interaction with Il Makiage’s wares. ‘It’s almost like a carapace, a skeleton that protects you and gives you that kind of intimacy,’ reflects Ho.

The dynamic setting is a well-matched backdrop for Il Makiage’s arsenal of offerings. Five years in the making, with an extensive 800 piece collection that includes a suite of make-up brushes and 50 shades of foundation, along with lip colours, eyeshadows, blush, bronzers, masacaras and more, Il Makiage boasts high performance formulas that have all been developed in-house in Israel. It not only embraces a maximalist attitude but also prides itself on raising the bar for luxury make-up. Rigorously tested with a troupe of professional make-up artists before launching to the public, it’s no surprise that the products are speedily winning fans.

Il Makiage’s mobile pavilion will be in Soho for the next six months, with a second pavilion opening in Manhattan’s Flatiron area slated for mid-summer.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Il Makiage website

ADDRESS

490 Broadway
New York City, New York

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It takes a lot to stand out amid Macau’s garish architectural cornucopia, yet even before the Morpheus hotel opened on the 15 June, it was being touted as a distinctive landmark. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 150,000-square-metre, 40-storey flagship hotel is the final chapter of Melco Resorts and Entertainment’s sprawling City of Dreams resort development, combining casino gaming, shopping and four other hotels located on the Cotai Strip.

The unveiling is a poignant reminder of the untimely death in 2016 of the Pritzker-Prize-winning architect, Dame Zaha Hadid. Morpheus is one of the last projects with which she was intimately involved and bears all the hallmarks of the late architects’ signature style, as do other recently completed projects, such as the Generali Tower in Milan.  

The unconventional monolithic structure features a freeform exoskeleton that rises from ground level, wrapping around a pair of towers and a cathedral-like central atrium to create a gargantuan block punctuated by three undulating voids that reflect the figure eight. ‘The carved out volumes allow you to experience the inner and outer faces of Morpheus as you journey through the building,’ explains the project architect Viviana Muscettola. ‘It’s quite fantastic how inside and outside talk to each other.’

Inside, three futuristic sky bridges connect the main circulation cores while providing vertigo-inducing communal dining and lounge spaces. There are 780 hotel rooms and the upper seven floors house VIP gaming facilities, three pool villas and six duplex villas, as well as a semi-enclosed rooftop swimming pool. Interior design by California-based Peter Remedios takes inspiration from super-yachts with custom-design textiles and furnishings.

On the ground floor, an all-white Pierre Hermé Paris Lounge is partially enclosed in a geometric steel angular frame, while the 35-metre-high atrium lobby features a reception decorated with white marble shards and staff kitted out in couturier Barney Cheng-designed uniforms. Twelve elevators whisking guests upwards through the voids add a Bladerunner touch.

There are three restaurants: two by star French chef Alain Ducasse and Yi, a contemporary Chinese restaurant serving regional Chinese cuisines omakase-style. Meanwhile the Spa sets a new benchmark for hedonism in Macau with a Snow Garden installation featuring real snow. 

INFORMATION
For more information visit Zaha Hadid Architects’ website

Zaha Hadid Design is one of 65 cultural practices turning its attention to 21st-century barkitecture, in the form of beautifully designed pet pads. Part of a charity auction in the name of BowWow Haus – a collaboration between pet charity Blue Cross, American not-for-profit organisation Outdoor Arts Foundation and photographer Drew Gardner – Hadid Designs’ one-of-a-kind Cloud kennel joins bespoke offerings from DLM Architects, Pim Studio Architects and Chris Dyson.

Zaha Hadid Designs’ Cloud, pictured top, is a cocoon-like kennel elevated above ground to protect doggy paws from cold floor surfaces. Constructed in CNC-milled plywood, it was constructed using digital design and 3D printing. It reflects, says Maha Kutay, Zaha Hadid Design director, ‘our long-standing commitment to support those doing great work in our community.’

From elaborate mosaic palaces and Manchester City Football Club themed boxes, to minimalist wooden huts and a multi-coloured kennel that floats (for some reason), answers to the brief range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Either way, this is a pet-project that designers have really sunk their teeth into.

It’s the raw, wooden wonders that have really pricked our ears, like a travel kennel created for small dogs on-the-go by London-based start-up Studio Lisboeta, and the ironically-titled Kittycat kennel, by JH Collective – a brand dedicated to creating ‘beautiful pieces of furniture for our furry friends’. Woof of approval.

Get your paws on one, and support the charity (that re-homes and cares for more than 40,000 sick, injured and homeless pets each year) at online auction house The Salesroom, or at St Pancras International, where the kennels are on display until 26 April 2018.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Bow Wow Haus website

ADDRESS

St Pancras International
Euston Rd, Kings Cross
London, N1C 4QP

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There is no shortage of glamorous residential architecture in Miami – from the new-build wonders of the likes of One Thousand Museum by Zaha Hadid, to the rich art deco heritage, this is a city awash with luxury housing options. Now, a new addition makes its entrance in the scene, as today marks the official opening of Jade Signature, Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss practice Herzog & de Meuron’s latest local offering.

The architects are well-known for their critically acclaimed work in Miami, which includes high profile commission such as 1111 Lincoln Road, and the Peréz Art Museum – and this oceanfront property, which sits in the Sunny Isles Beach neighbourhood, was developed for husband-and-wife team Edgardo and Ana Cristina Defortuna of Fortune International Group. For Jade Signature, Herzog & de Meuron worked with celebrated Miami landscape architect Raymond Jungles and Parisian interior designer Pierre Yves-Rochon.  

Light and elegant, Jade Signature’s concrete, sinuous form clearly stands out among its neighbours for its bright white presence and shimmering glazing. Slabs clearly articulate different floors, while windows are recessed in a gesture that further enhances the building’s highly sculptural character. Comprising 192 residences serviced by a rich selection of amenities – such as swimming pool, private beach, spa, playrooms and a wine bar and lounge – the development also features state-of-the-art smart technology throughout.  

The design is not all about the aesthetics. The architects took extra care to ensure the building adheres to environmentally friendly principles, using the natural context in an eco-conscious manner. Natural ventilation is encouraged throughout, while a combination of carefully placed windows and a strategically orientated overall volume, means that the apartments can be lit but also cooled down naturally as much as possible.

‘Jade Signature is a tower on the beach. Like the great Miami hotels we have come to admire, it is a building rooted directly in the landscape and the city around it. Interior and exterior are seamlessly bound together’, say the architects. ‘The Jade Signature project is expressive of its residential program, its relationship to the beach and the historical context of the city around it. Through an arrangement of slabs and structural walls, solid elements and open terraces, the tower is a simple gesture that gains in depth and complexity as it is approached and experienced.’

INFORMATION

For more information visit the website of Herzog de Meuron

The CityLife Shopping District in Milan, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects is now open to the public. The 32,000 sq m shopping centre forms part of the CityLife development in the district surrounding the Tre Torri station on the M5 line of Milan’s metro.

The three storey shopping centre connects to the smoothly swooping Zaha Hadid Architects-designed mixed-use, 44-storey Generali Tower, set to complete in 2018 and a wider public park, central plaza and residential area spanning 90 acres. The whole CityLife complex, located at Milan’s old trade fair grounds, is one of Europe’s largest redevelopment projects.

The defining design factor of the shopping complex is the extensive and exquisite use of bamboo – the material flows from the flooring and extends into columns that eventually reach the ceiling in one swift wave-like motion. The bamboo was curved into shape using resins under high pressure and engineered blocks of the bamboo were carved into ribs by a 5-axis CNC milling machine, then hand finished to create the totally smooth and fluid interior effect.

The dark honey-coloured bamboo swells into counters in the food halls which feature new Italian and international restaurant offerings, and brings a natural warmth to the shopping galleries containing brands such as Adidas, Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger and Timberland.

The shopping district opens up onto the Tre Torri Piazza, designed by One Works and an open-air pedestrian shopping street designed by architect Mauro Galantino, which in turn connect to the wider area featuring architectural projects by Arata Isozaki, Daniel Libeskind, and the CityLife Milano residential complex designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and completed in 2013. The CityLife Park surrounds and connects the separate elements of the CityLife complex together through green public realm.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Zaha Hadid Architects website

Max Mara has commissioned London-based Korean artist Yiyun Kang for its latest exhibition, ‘Coats!’, being held in her home town of Seoul. Kang, known for her large-scale, site-specific digital mapping projections, has remixed imagery from the Max Mara archive into her installation, ‘Deep Surface’, which projects animated, vibrant patterns onto a specially-constructed 20m dome, designed by architects Migliore + Servetto and located in Zaha Hadid’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). The dome arches atmospherically over a central space divided into seven different rooms, each representing a different era in Max Mara’s past, from the 1950s to the 2000s.

The starting point for the exhibition, the concept of the perfect coat, ‘combines the idea of surfaces, from the way the fabric folds, to the way it meets the skin, and sits on the body’, says Kang. The dome itself also reflects the sensations of being wrapped in a coat. ‘It’s an environment that really immerses the human body.’

'Max Mara is more than fashion,' says the label's creative director Ian Griffiths. 'Our coats have an renowned cultural value that merit artistic exploration.' The Italian fashion house was founded in 1951, with a principle of ‘making the ordinary extraordinary.’ This has meant taking everyday items and transforming them into garments that can completely revive daily experience.

'For me, a perfect example of this cultural conversation, was our collaboration in 1999 with Goldsmiths,' adds Griffiths. 'Together with artists Volker Eichelmann and Ruth Maclennan’s, our Designer Coat Swap invited people to make offers for a classic wool and cashmere 101801 coat. The results offered a fascinating dissection of the coats' complex layers of meaning and symbolic worth.'

As part of her research, Kang visited Max Mara's archive in Reggio Emilia in Italy. ‘I was mesmerised by the collection – it’s not only about the object, but about human history, about the Maramotti family, who founded the brand, and the history of Reggio Emilia, about men and women’s fashion in the past, present and future. It’s alive and breathing.’

Kang, who usually works alone, admits that exchanging ideas with a large team from the fields of fashion and architecture was a tricky transition but ultimately enlightening. ‘I remember Luigi Maramotti mentioning the idea of collective creativity – for him it was a real focus because not a single product can be completed without the help of many people.’ Griffiths points similarly to ‘a great synergy’ with Kang. ‘Her installation reflects the monumentality of the brand’s image, while showing that human element.’

What does Kang hope local visitors will take away from the experience? ‘As a South Korean, everyone is aware that we’re in a very politically tense situation. Through this amazing collaboration I hope to create some soothing moments for the people who live in Seoul during this time.’

A version of this article appeared in the December 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*225)

INFORMATION

’Coats!’ runs from 28 November - 12 December. For more information, visit the Dongdaemun Design Plaza website and the Max Mara website

ADDRESS

Dongdaemun Design Plaza
281 Eulji-ro 
Jung-gu
Seoul
South Korea

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Architecture doesn’t always exist to push the boundaries. Sometimes a building is just an enclosure, a pragmatic form undefined by the activities within. Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has never subscribed to the cult of quiet functionalism – the more complex a building’s use, the more radical the form. Perhaps that’s why Riyadh’s new King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KASPSARC) is such a dramatic and radical statement, even by the high standards of the studio.

KAPSARC’s brief is as a desert laboratory, a place where the vested interests of the petrochemical industry can take a long, hard look at where their industry is going and what it has done – one of the research briefs is ‘studying the technological, economic and environmental impacts of energy’. Perhaps as an indicator of things to come, ZHA has designed the structure to make minimal energy demands in a region renowned for its extreme climate.

Focused on a central research building, with angular prows that jut out across the landscaping, the architecture combines structural boldness with complex patterns on the walls and ceilings, giving the long Islamic tradition of geometric form a literal twist. The modular construction allows for future expansion, while covered outdoor circulation areas help mitigate the effects of solar radiation.

Perhaps most notably, the building’s musalla (the open space outside a mosque) is the country’s very first prayer space to be designed by a woman. Proof that Zaha Hadid is still having a posthumous influence on design.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Zaha Hadid Architects website

This month marks Wallpaper’s coming of age: our 21st anniversary. It’s also my tenth year as editor-in-chief, having switched from being creative director in April 2007. I must confess that my coming of age came a number of years earlier. Time flies.

One of the earliest projects I worked on in my new role was our inaugural October Guest Editors’ Issue. Now, many media outlets have given over their editorial reins to appropriate talents in order to bring a fresh perspective and generate some PR buzz. But because of Wallpaper’s multi-faceted editorial remit, we felt our spin on the concept should be equally all-encompassing – we would invite not just one, but up to three diverse creatives each year who would reflect our offering, but also push us to try new things.

So year one saw a purist industrial designer, Dieter Rams, an iconoclastic artist, Jeff Koons, and a much-more-than-a-fashion-designer fashion designer, Hedi Slimane. To rebalance the unintentional male bias for 2007, the next year saw Louise Bourgeois, Zaha Hadid and Rei Kawakubo bring art, architecture, and fashion girl power to our pages. Subsequent editions have seen Karl Lagerfeld, Philippe Starck, David Lynch, Robert Wilson, Kraftwerk, Christian Marclay, Lang Lang, Ole Scheeren, Taryn Simon, Laurie Simmons, Elmgreen & Dragset, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, William Wegman and Liz Diller have fun at our expense. That makes 21 in total, and therefore a convenient excuse to take a retrospective look, as well as request some updates for our latest issue. (Our thickest issue yet, the spine also happens to measure a serendipitous 21mm)

In addition to a 20-plus page section within the magazine, each of our Guest Editors was also invited to design a cover. Many called for unusual paper technologies – Hedi used specialist printing inks to simulate glitter, whereas Karl invited readers to strip the Dior Homme suit off his muse by means of a peelable layer. Starck constructed a transparent front cover using three layers of tracing paper. And Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter tacked on a pair of 3D specs, to go with his 3D cover portrait and portfolio of exclusive images tied to key Kraftwerk compositions.

If I had to pick one favourite project it would be Zaha’s. Her cover was a gatefold construction using multiple die-cuts, while inside she produced a 16-page die-cut sculpture, which was a take on her ‘Lotus’ room installation at that year’s Venice Biennale. ‘I want to put a big hole in the magazine’, she told us. We dutifully obliged.

Zaha was profiled by art critic Matthew Collings, who visited her at her London offices and provided a pleasant distraction from discussions about cement. Collings and ‘Big Z’, as he affectionately called her, hit it off immediately. ‘Her architecture is the greatest art of the moment,’ he said.

So it’s a huge pleasure for me and I think a fitting tribute to Zaha (who tragically passed away 18 months ago) that this anniversary issue’s cover was created by Zaha Hadid Architects and its principal and torchbearer, Patrik Schumacher.

Enjoy this special issue and raise a glass to Big Z.

Tony Chambers, Editor-in-Chief

As originally featured in the October 2017 issue of Wallpaper* (W*223)

Our thickest issue yet, the spine also happens to measure a serendipitous 21mm, in keeping with our celebration of 21 years, and 21 guest editors

INFORMATION

The October 2017 issue of Wallpaper* is out now. Subscribe here

Gallery 5 of Rome’s MAXXI Museum was the only reasonable place to launch ‘Zaha Hadid in Italy’, the current survey of Zaha Hadid’s output in Italy, on view until January 2018. From the sloping bank of windows three storeys up, there’s a lofty view over the museum piazza and a keen sense of its place in the history of the Eternal City.

If the museum itself is a testament to the late architect’s commitment to the architecture of dreamscapes, the exhibits spanning the boomerang walls reveal a mind that was always reaching, experimenting, persevering: never dreaming.

Why has Italy been first to mount a visual eulogy of the master to celebrate her works across the nation? MAXXI curator Margherita Guccione sums it up: ‘In this evolution… of Zaha Hadid’s language and architectural research, from the very beginnings to the more recent works that are still under way, the Italian projects have often represented a juncture and a turning point towards new research and experimental horizons. The MAXXI is the most evident proof of this.’

There is an entire syllabus of creative study here, in computational designs, conceptual sketches that are gradually rendered concrete and 3D models that reveal a singular ease with unconventional materials.

Guccione and Woody Yao of Zaha Hadid Design have installed a video timeline of Hadid’s overlapping projects in the country. It complements a swath of photographs by Hélène Binet, who shadowed the architect throughout the last years of her career. They’ve added branded products – a bag for Fendi, a bench for Cassina – that became icons for 21st-century futurism even before the news broke of Hadid’s premature death last year.

Most poignant, though, are her architectural models, like postmodern Henry Moore's designed to support the weight of thousands – though, really, they defy comparison. For many visitors to MAXXI, the sensation of inhabiting a Hadid building will be tragically rare. There was a too-long, too-recent period when Hadid was better known for her battles with clients and local authorities than for actually building things. This exhibition portrays a world catching up with her brilliance – and forecasts a future of lost opportunities.

NFORMATION

‘Zaha Hadid in Italy’ is on view until January 2018. For more information, visit the MAXXI website

ADDRESS

MAXXI
Via Guido Reni, 4
00196
Roma

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Before she passed away in 2016, Zaha Hadid was working on a hands-on collaboration with Perrin Paris. Founded in 1893, the French accessories house is renowned for its glove-detail clutch bags, which seamlessly meld bag design and the human body. A couple of years ago, Hadid received one of these designs as a present – as it turns out, it’s a gift that keeps on giving with the launch of a new collaborative capsule collection by Perrin Paris and the architect’s studio.

The hand was a body part that resonated with Hadid. Her 2016 collaboration with Georg Jensen, for example, was composed of twisting cuffs and rings. Little surprise then, that the architect created a bold trio of spatial metal forms for the Perrin Paris collaboration, honing in on the area she preferred to adorn. ‘We were trained by Zaha to come up with various possibilities when working on projects,’ explains Maha Kutay, director at Zaha Hadid Design. ‘Originally we discussed the idea of one design, but three options were actually taken forward.’

Characteristically architectural in the sweeping forms, the metal embellishments also riff on jewellery design. ‘They look more like pieces of jewellery when you’re holding the bag’ Kutay says. ‘Most of Perrin Paris’ previous production was about forming 2D elements and shaping them to become volumetric. Our approach is about sculpting 3D elements, which act like an extension of the arm.’ This dynamism is reinforced in the functional nature of each swooshing metallic detail, which can be slipped onto either hand.

‘We always refer to old paintings that Zaha created,’ explains Kutay of the collection’s colour palette. Black, white and blush interpretations are complemented with gold and silver finished metal forms, while Klein Blue and post-box red versions are entirely monochrome. ‘Zaha liked Klein Blue quite a bit,’ Kutay adds. ‘We’ve also used it on some other furniture pieces. For us it felt like it was a good way of emphasising Zaha’s presence within the collection.’ The styles will be sold on Farfetch, and through Zaha Hadid Design and Perrin Paris’ own websites.

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Zaha Hadid website, the Perrin Paris website and the Farfetch website

Astana train station
Astana, Kazakhstan, Tabanlıoğlu Architects

Set to be the major infrastructural legacy of Astana Expo 2017, this massive new station has been under construction since 2014. Designed by the Turkish studio Tabanlıoğlu Architects and ultimately expected to serve around 35,000 commuters a day, the station is timed to open in June, alongside the expo, connecting six lines and helping visitors navigate the city. The ribbon-like steel roof of Astana’s new rail station dominates the landscape, lightweight yet durable enough to handle the harsh local weather, with inset glazing and a distinct peak over the central atrium. ‘We wanted the monolithic structure of the roof to shape the space,’ says architect Murat Tabanlıoğlu, ‘all the while creating a symbolic building that reflects the modern and contemporary aspects of the new capital of Kazakhstan.’ He speaks of transport hubs becoming ‘the iconic meeting places of our era’. This being Kazakhstan, there’s also a certain amount of ceremonial pomp, and the new station sits on an axis with the presidential palace, with acres of empty space awaiting new development all around. ‘It’s a potential new landmark in Astana’s nature, social life and contemporary architecture,’ says Tabanlıoğlu.

Photography: Emre Dörter

West Kowloon terminus
Hong Kong, Andrew Bromberg, Aedas

Hong Kong has spent the years since its handover from the UK to China reinforcing its status as one of the world’s most dynamic cities, pouring investment into infrastructure to ensure it retains its economic muscle. Architect firm Aedas has been working on the West Kowloon rail terminus since 2009, and it is taking spectacular shape. The semi-submerged structure is a ‘gateway’ for the city, a sweep of glass and 3.5ha of garden rising 50m above a 15-track underground terminus (the world’s largest). ‘It’s architects’ responsibility to give back what has always belonged to people – the landscape, the views, the city – a lot of which has become privatised,’ says Aedas’ Andrew Bromberg. ‘I want people to climb over the building and discover the new horizon for themselves. For some, it will be their first sight of Hong Kong.’ From here you’ll be able to take a highspeed train to Beijing and other mainland destinations. From deep within the 380,000 sq m station, ribbons of glass in the roof give tantalising glimpses of the city’s vertiginous skyline. ‘A deep connection between people and architecture is especially important in places like Hong Kong, where much of life takes place at the street level – I want to bring that life into my building,’ Bromberg says. Due for completion next year, the West Kowloon Rail Terminus will include gardens as well as a pedestrian walkway over its sweeping roof.

Photography: Virgile Simon Bertrand

King Abdullah Financial District metro station
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Zaha Hadid Architects

Few cities have the luxury of building a modern multi-line metro system from scratch. Even fewer have the resources to do it with style. Riyadh’s new metro, to open in 2019, will offer six lines and transform the city’s transport system, as well as link the airport and the new King Abdullah Financial District. Zaha Hadid Architects was tasked with building the Financial District’s station, one of three ‘iconic’ stops on the new network. A sinuous bubbling form is set to rise above the ticket hall and platform level. Ultra-High Performance Concrete cladding over a steel frame, together with a lattice of curved window forms to allow in the perfect amount of desert sun, will make the station appear lightweight and translucent. ‘Our system allows for symmetry and repetition, as well as for connection to the skybridges that link to the Financial District,’ says the firm’s associate director Filippo Innocenti.

Photography: Hany Musallum

Hong Kong boundary crossing facility
Hong Kong, RSHP/Aedas

Infrastructure projects are rarely as ambitious as the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau Bridge. Emerging from the Pearl River Delta, the 42km bridge and tunnel will link Hong Kong with Macau, improving connections with Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Shenzhen to create a massive population centre around this cluster of finance, trade and industrial hubs. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) has collaborated with Aedas to build a major new terminal and border facility at the heart of the project. It’s located on an artificial island, one of two that bookend the link, dredged from the delta and transformed into clearing facilities for people and goods moving between zones. ‘It’s just built out of the ocean,’ says RSHP partner Richard Paul, describing the roofscape as ‘five rolling hills’. The roof’s vast modules, prebuilt, down to the smoke detectors, were made across the water in Zhuhai and shipped over.

Photography: Robert Moyer