ART 4443 MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART. Research Paper. Zaha Hadid and the Development of the Deconstructivist Style in Architecture.

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1 ART 4443 MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART Zaha Hadid and the Development of the Deconstructivist Style in Architecture Madeleine Steele

2 As contemporary architectural styles continue to develop and the modern and postmodern eras fade into the distance, it is important to explore the work of those who brought about architecture s evolution in order to fully understand the current position of this discipline. The architectural profession looks very different to what it did one century ago and there are many historical factors responsible for this change. The technological age enabled a dramatic transformation in practice and form-making, while the women s rights movement led to the emergence of female architects in a field once solely open to men. This paper will investigate how architect Zaha Hadid looked to Russian Contructivism and Suprematism to inform the deconstructivist style she favours by examining her work at Hong Kong Peak (1982) and Pierresvives ( ); while concurrently demonstrating how Hadid s position as one of the first influential female architects catapulted the architectural profession into the contemporary era. Early twentieth century Russian artists and architects, from Malevich to Lissitzy, made some of the most innovative theoretical developments in their fields some which continue to influence their contemporaries almost one century later 1. In a period which also produced arguably the world s most brilliant philosophical minds, Russia s architectural theorists frequently never saw the built realization of their progressive thinking; but their driving concepts still endured. The two styles under which the work of these Russians is usually categorized are Suprematism and Constructivism. Their formal gestures are today synonymous with the postmodern deconstructivist movement with which architects Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenmann and of course, Hadid, are notably associated. These architects are responsible for a departure from rectilinear forms and other simple geometry 2 that had 1 Johnson, Philip, and Mark Wigley, Deconstructivist Architecture (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988), 7. 2 Wong, J.F, The Text of Free-Form Architecture: Qualitative Study of the Discourse of Four Architects, Design Studies Vol. 31, no.1 (2010):

3 until that time dominated architectural styles, but there is no doubt precedence was found in the work on their Russian predecessors. Zaha Hadid arrived late to the practice of Deconstruction, and it wasn t until she began her study that she became aware of the style simultaneously flourishing in the outside world. Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Hadid undertook her Masters of Architecture at London s Architectural Association School of Architecture. Here, she met Rem Koolhaas 3, who as well as being her tutor, was a practicing architect in the Deconstructivist style. Through the courses she took under Koolhaas, she was given an introduction to the artistic and architectural theories of early twentieth century Russia. A couple of key concepts caught her attention and they soon began to influence the areas she studied, her studio work and later, her style as a practicing architect. Firstly, Hadid became aware that Suprematism associated with painters and sculptors was completely untested in the field of architecture. One particular project that developed this interest was based on Malevich s Tektonik 4. The students investigated the idea that if given three-dimensional form and a larger scale, the Tektonik could in fact become architecture. The theory of fragmentation revealed itself, challenging many of the implied rules of architecture, such as symmetry and rationalism, which for centuries had been so dominant. The relevance to Deconstruction also became evident, particularly in plan; but, many students including Hadid, remained unsure about whether the answer to a new style of architecture lay in the past. 5 Looking elsewhere and at an already three-dimensional theoretical movement, Hadid s professors presented the idea of a direct lineage between the modern movement of Constructivism 3 Noever, Peter, ed., Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruction and New Modernism (Munich: Prestel, 1991), Noever, ed., Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruction and New Modernism, Ibid., 48. 2

4 and the then current postmodern style, Deconstruction. At the height of its popularity in the twenties, Constructivism sought to capitalize on the great engineering progress underway in order to create a new architectural language that would push these structural boundaries further again. Ultimately, it resulted in structures with form so abstract that they appeared to border on lunacy 6 and this remains one of the primary reason why many were never built. Constructivism dramatically contrasted other modern architectural styles such as the De Stilj, which remained so heavily entrenched in the ideas of purity and rationalism. 7 In Constructivism, rectangles once restricted to the horizontal and vertical planes were warped into incongruous trapezoids at unbalanced angles. Hadid studied the work of those such as Leonidov and Vladimir Tatlin in awe of what they were trying to achieve. As a student, she was excited by the idea that during her career she may see such visionary architecture made possible. Later in her career, Hadid would describe Deconstruction as a movement to rewrite the script for architecture, 8 but in many ways Deconstruction simply served as a way to finally play out a script once perceived as too far ahead of its time. Upon leaving university and entering the world as a practicing architect, Hadid began to explore and develop her own Decontructivist style while remaining faithful to the scholarship she had completed. Reflecting on Hadid s early work, it is not difficult to find the influence of Tatlin s warped planes or Malevich s Tektonik. Honk Kong Peak (1982), her first self-driven project to receive international academic recognition, is one such example. 6 Smithson, Alison, and Peter Smithson, The Heroic Period of Modern Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1981), Smithson, Alison, and Peter Smithson, The Heroic Period of Modern Architecture, 9. 8 Blackwood, Michael, Deconstructivist Architects, VHS (New York: M. Blackwood Productions, 1989). 3

5 Like many major briefs for architects, the project formed part of a competitive entry for a club at the top of a mountain overlooking Honk Kong and its harbor 9. The terrain posed an extremely difficult set of challenges for such a large scale building, and therefore most entries consisted of smaller structures scattered across several sites. Hadid however, decided to place her submission on a single site and undertake major interventions on the landscape 10. Four beam-like concrete volumes cut through the peak in a deliberately horizontal gesture like shards of glass through a pointed finger. As the beams began to interact with the site s topography they also interact with each other, creating a new artificial landscape within the existing natural one. A juxtaposition of fluid form and rugged terrain became the design motif, as Hadid collided polished, synthetic surfaces with raw earth. It is clear from the horizontal gestures made, that Hadid s script for this project manifested itself in plan 11. Just as she had learnt as a student studying the Russian theorists, she took the shapes and lines drawn in the two-dimensional plan to create three-dimensional, architectonic form 12. Once on the third axis, these volumes were again be manipulated pulled apart in a vertical manner to generate large voids and even more dynamic spaces. Later in her career, Zaha Hadid continued to use the architectural plan to investigate dynamism and fluidity in her work. The client for a more recent project, Pierresvives ( ), in fact requested Hadid knowing her method was so entrenched in these principles. Andre Vezinhet, chairman of the 9 Johnson and Wigley, Deconstructivist Architecture, Noever, ed., Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruction and New Modernism, Blackwood, Michael, Deconstructivist Architects, VHS. 12 Paterson, Mark, More than Visual Approaches to Architecture. Vision, Touch, Technique, Social & Cultural Geography Vol. 12, no.3 (2011):

6 Hérault Departmental Council, wished that the civil building be designed like the living stone of Renaissance philosopher, Francois Rabelais dynamic, lively and full of movement. 13 Pierresvives needed as a means to bring together the Department of Culture and the Department of Sport under one roof in Montpellier, France is indeed revolutionary in its sculptural form. Hadid sought to use the project as an opportunity to change the way architects approach civic buildings. She hoped to not only create a building that would remain current for years to come, but also put forth a typological precedent for other architects to follow. Metaphor was particular important on this project, using the concept of a horizontal tree of knowledge from which to draw ideas. The result is a grey concrete ship-like structure which, like Hong Kong Peak, plays with strong horizontal movement drawn upwards from plan. Unlike Hong Kong, where Hadid wished to juxtapose the verticality of the site with the concrete shards of the structure, the horizontal nature of Pierresvives instead emphasizes the vastness of the typography. The façade proved to be one of the greatest challenges as difficult requirements to accommodate thirty-seven miles of archives, meant the exterior of the building grew by the day. Hadid s solution was to slice rather than puncture the façade with glass grooves to intensify the horizontal gesture being made. This was then exaggerated further still by bespoke aluminium louvers running the length of the building. The same concept is not lost in the internal spaces as the windows project their linearity onto the surfaces inside. 14 The volume as a whole is fragmented pushed and pulled across the horizontal plane however, even as one volume ends and a new one begins, the lines remain constant and unbroken. Again, it is not hard to see how the ideas of Suprematism and Constructivism were still influential at this later stage in Hadid s career. 13 Hof, Stephanie, ed., Zaha Hadid Architects: Pierres Vives (New York: Rizzoli, 2013), Hof, Stephanie, ed., Zaha Hadid Architects: Pierres Vives, 7. 5

7 Today, this career is far from complete, but it is profoundly more broad than it once was. Zaha Hadid is now an international star in the world of architecture, practicing in over forty countries worldwide and having completed over 900 projects. She uses her design knowledge to extend herself into other fields outside of architecture from furniture design through to fashion, and within her main field, she continues her academic scholarship by consistently researching and philosophizing. To Hadid, this theoretical pursuit is an integral part of who she is as a designer and a recent example is an investigation into the use of biological analogies to transform abstract diagrams into architectonic design. 15 Her design practices remain consistently relevant as her theoretical work is immediately applicable to real-world projects. This paper has investigated how architect Zaha Hadid looked to Russian Contructivism and Suprematism to inform the deconstructivist style she favours by examining her work Hong Kong Peak (1982) and Pierresvives ( ); while concurrently demonstrating how Hadid s position as one of the first influential female architects catapulted the architectural profession into the contemporary era. From the outset of her career, Hadid endeavoured to push boundaries both through her design practices and within the realm of a male-dominated profession and in today s contemporary world, her revolutionary touch is visible for all to see. As the foundation for the Deconstructivist style, Hadid and her peers rewrote the script for architecture manipulating three-dimensional space in new ways from the architectural plan. They did so with Russia s architectural theorists creating a precedence for design, which demanded risk-taking and resulted in highly sculptural, architectonic volumes. Hadid herself, and her ability to effortlessly weave together seemingly weightless, inclined planes and fluid volumetric spaces eventually implored an academic, Jorge Silvetti, a Professor of Architecture at 15 Paterson, Mark, More than Visual Approaches to Architecture. Vision, Touch, Technique, Social & Cultural Geography,

8 Harvard University, to profess her to be proof that architecture as a fine art has not run out of steam and is hardly wanting in imagination Hof, Stephanie, ed., Zaha Hadid Architects: Pierres Vives, 7. 7

9 Aref, Mohammad. Zaha Hadid, Genius of the Place. Contemporary Arab Affairs Vol. 4, no.3 (2011): Arnason, H. Harvard, and Elizabeth C. Mansfield. Postmodernism. In History of Modern Art, New York: Pearson, Blackwood, Michael. Deconstructivist Architects. VHS. New York: M. Blackwood Productions, Burns, Karen. Archaeologies of Feminism, Architecture and Deconstruction. Architectural Theory Review Vol. 15, no.3 (2010): Fazio, Michael, Marian Moffett, and Lawrence Wodehouse. Modernism in the Mid- and Late Twentieth Century and Beyond. In A World History of Architecture, Boston: McGraw-Hill, Hof, Stephane, ed. Zaha Hadid Architects: Pierresvives. New York: Rizzoli, Jencks, Charles. The New Moderns: From Late to Neo-Modernism. London: Academy Editions, Johnson, Philip, and Mark Wigley. Deconstructivist Architecture. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, Noever, Peter, ed. Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruction and New Modernism. Munich: Prestel, Paterson, Mark. More than Visual Approaches to Architecture. Vision, Touch, Technique. Social & Cultural Geography Vol. 12, no.3 (2011): Smithson, Alison, and Peter Smithson. The Heroic Period of Modern Architecture. New York: Rizzoli, Wong, J.F. The Text of Free-Form Architecture: Qualitative Study of the Discourse of Four Architects. Design Studies Vol. 31, no.1 (2010):

10 Footnotes Aref, Mohammad, Zaha Hadid, Genius of the Place, Contemporary Arab Affairs Vol. 4, no.3 (2011): Arnason, H. Harvard, and Elizabeth C. Mansfield, Postmodernism, In History of Modern Art (New York: Pearson, 2013), Blackwood, Michael, Deconstructivist Architects, VHS (New York: M. Blackwood Productions, 1989). Burns, Karen, Archaeologies of Feminism, Architecture and Deconstruction, Architectural Theory Review Vol. 15, no.3 (2010): Fazio, Michael, Marian Moffett, and Lawrence Wodehouse, Modernism in the Mid- and Late Twentieth Century and Beyond, In A World History of Architecture (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008), Hof, Stephanie, ed., Zaha Hadid Architects: Pierres Vives (New York: Rizzoli, 2013), pg no. Jencks, Charles, The New Moderns: From Late to Neo-Modernism (London: Academy Editions, 1990), pg no. Johnson, Philip, and Mark Wigley, Deconstructivist Architecture (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988), pg no. Noever, Peter, ed., Architecture in Transition: Between Deconstruction and New Modernism (Munich: Prestel, 1991), pg no. Paterson, Mark, More than Visual Approaches to Architecture. Vision, Touch, Technique, Social & Cultural Geography Vol. 12, no.3 (2011): Smithson, Alison, and Peter Smithson, The Heroic Period of Modern Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1981), pg no. Wong, J.F, The Text of Free-Form Architecture: Qualitative Study of the Discourse of Four Architects, Design Studies Vol. 31, no.1 (2010):

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