Zaha Hadid: Lines of Energy
On the day after the Academy Awards recognized a woman as Best Director for the first time, (and, coincidentally, International Women’s Day), check out this slideshow of another woman breaking ground in an industry dominated by men. Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born architect, was the subject of a recent New Yorker article following the opening of MAXXI, the Italian National Museum of the XXI Century Arts (and Rome’s first major public building designed by a woman). This accompanying slideshow features some stunning shots of the completed building, and offers some startling insights into Zaha’s design. Coming on the heels of Peter’s Design Eye interview last week, I loved seeing Zaha’s initial sketch for the MAXXI: bold strokes on a simple sheet of ruled paper.
Known for the organic curves and geometric angles of her designs, Zaha’s been in the news a lot recently. Her design for the 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre in London has been turning heads for it’s futuristic lines (Flight of the Navigator, anyone?), while her smaller-scale works—from jewelery to spacially complex pieces of furniture—are going on display in Bahrain next week in the fluidity & design exhibition. But for the uninitiated, a simple google-image search of her name offers a pretty compelling primer on the intersection of space, structure and digital design. Boys, take note.
(photo: Iwan Baan; via The New Yorker)
























Based out of the UK, 


