See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/275570596

Zaha Hadid’s Techniques of Architectural Form-Making

Article · January 2013

DOI: 10.12966/ojad.11.01.2013

CITATIONS READS

10 28,866

3 authors:

Amatalraof Abdullah Ismail bin Said

12 PUBLICATIONS   33 CITATIONS   
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
141 PUBLICATIONS   1,053 CITATIONS   
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

Dilshan Remaz Ossen

The Kingdom University
72 PUBLICATIONS   1,256 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Preschool Environment View project

Social Sustainable Construction and Urban Development View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Amatalraof Abdullah on 14 March 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Sciknow Publications Ltd. OJAD 2013, 1(1):1-9
Open Journal of Architectural Design DOI: 10.12966/ojad.11.01.2013
©Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

Zaha Hadid’s Techniques of Architectural Form-Making

AmatalRaof AbdUllah1,*, Ismail Bin Said2, DilshanRemaz Ossen3
1
Department of Architecture,UniversitiTeknologiMalaysia ,Johor, Malaysia
2
Department Landscape Architecture, UniversitiTeknologiMalaysia , Johor, Malaysia
3
Department of Architecture, UniversitiTeknologiMalaysia , Johor, Malaysia

*Corresponding author (Email: raofa4@yahoo.com)

Abstract - The dramatic changes in today‟s architecture are inevitable consequences of the sweeping technological advances of
the 21st century. Zaha Hadid is one of the prominent architects who have contributed on conceiving unprecedented, innovative
architecture. Generations eager for creativity from among architectural students, architects and products‟ designers who admire
her designs find it difficult to determine the underlying reason for the uniqueness of her works. Although, there is a notable
interest in different media for her works, there is no equivalent reaction in the academic field on the systematic analysis for her
techniques in designing architectural form. Therefore, this study‟s aims are to find out these techniques and to investigate the
underlying cause for her works distinctiveness from her other colleagues in architecture. A content analysis is conducted on
Hadid‟s words in texts and videos of her accessible interviews in internet, books and magazine to accomplish study‟s aims as
well as to find out how these techniques were applied in regard to the general conception of her projects. The study resulted in
exposing the six techniques she uses to design the architectural form which are abstraction and fragmentation; idea of the ground
and gravity; landscaping project and the surrounding context; Layering; play of light; seamlessness and fluidity. Moreover, the
authors refer her works‟ uniqueness to employing contradiction principle through these techniques.
Keywords - Architectural Form, Creativity, Deconstructivism, Techniques, Zaha Hadid

1. Introduction
Nowadays, humans live in an era characterized by change,
instability, and a very high technology that gives the oppor-
tunity to largely develop every sector in unprecedented ways.
With all of these changes happening around, architecture and
cities have assumed new way of expression in their general
configuration and philosophy [31]. The past few years have
seen increasing technological advances in building structures
and materials that have more privileged properties such as
flexibility, ease of configuration, elasticity, rigidity, and
beauty of appearance. Hence, these facilities encourage arc-
hitects to be more creative in design without fear of the dif-
ficulties that might face them in carrying out their designs. As
a result, there is new trend in architecture which is considered
as a development of modernism called deconstructivism [26].
The architects of this trend design projects as if they are in
another planet characterized by antigravity, non-geometry
and complexity [23]. Deconstructivism found its way to real-
ity in 1988 in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New
York where seven of the most contemporary architects
showed their projects [34]. Zaha M. Hadid was one of those
participating architects in this exhibition whose Peak project
was featured by complexity and ambiguity [8]. Hadid‟s early
works were characterized by fragmentation and antigravity
learned from Russian artistic movement; suprematism that
stands on abstractly utilizing pure geometric forms in painting
rather than depicting things as they are in their reality [30].
She was labelled a paper architect because all of her early
architectural designs have not been beyond the limits of pa-
pers [14]. However, Hadid nowadays is considered one of the
most prominent architects in the world whose designs reach
more than 80 projects in 44 countries around the world [2].
Fan Ling the lecturer at Beijing„s Central Academy of Fine
Arts in Beijing, declared that Hadid now is the most effective
global architect in China [28].
A considerable number of Hadid‟s admirers, including
architectural students, architects, and designers of fashion,
furniture, and jewelry around the world are intrigued by the
uniqueness of her designs. Therefore, this study‟s aim is to
find out how Hadid could produce such a creative architecture;
in other words, to examine the pushed boundaries by Hadid
exploring her enigmatic techniques in designing forms. This
study is an exploratory research involving content analysis for
Hadid words which resulted in exposing her techniques in
designing form. This is followed by a study of her descrip-
tions to projects‟ form notions and their configuration features
to find out the different ways of applying each technique.
2 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9
Although, there is a notable interest in practice for this domain,
there is no equivalent activity in the academic field. Through
reviewing the journal articles related to deconstructivism, it is
assumed that the systematic analysis of the techniques Hadid
uses to generate deconstructivist forms have not been ad-
dressed yet. Most of the studies focus on deconstructivism
nature from Derrida‟s perspective and its techniques that
stand in philosophy and achieving design mission firstly
through writing ( Wigley, 1989, 1996 ; Durmus and Gur, 2011;
Patin, 1993; McLeod; 1989; Eisenman, 1984). However,
there is another group of deconstructivist architects who in-
spires from other sources but not Derrida‟s such as Zaha
Hadid and Frank Gehry who have their own, independent
philosophy of deconstruction. This paper focuses on Hadid‟s
techniques in designing form who has declared frequently that
suprematism is the inspiring artistic style for most of her early
projects and some of the latest works [11] & [12]. It is ex-
pected that these techniques might be helpful for architects
who are interested in designing Hadid‟s architecture.
2. Architecture from Zaha Hadid
Perspective
At the first sight of Hadid‟s projects, the observer may suspect
the perfection of project‟s functional performance because
Hadid places great importance on the exterior form and puts it
in her priorities in design. However, going through project
spaces, one could recognize that the project has done its
functional tasks in the same level the traditional one does
accompanied with the element of excitement, exploration, and
eager desire to see what is next. Hadid believes that archi-
tecture has main affective role in human mood, the quality of
human life, and the way of perceiving the world [12] & [7].
She claimed that architecture is not only a closed structure
that holds the activities it is built for but it also should make its
users calm, think, keep them „dry‟ and motivate the spirit [19].
Furthermore, she insists that architecture should be a unique
thing leaving its influence in the area‟s life and attracting
people to experience it [20]. She wants her building to for-
mulate „a new kind of landscape, to flow together with con-
temporary cities and the lives of their peoples‟ [12]. Hadid‟s
dislike for repetition principle pushed her to use new tech-
niques such as fragmentation in order to rebel and break down
many architectural rules that resulted in producing repetitive
architecture. She considers architecture as a product that
“follows the inherent logic of cycles of innovation generated
by social and technological developments” [9]. She referred
her success to going through the anonymous place; inciting
departure into the unknown where is the „element of uncer-
tainty‟ [2].
3. Suprematism (Non- Objective
Painting)
Suprematism is a Russian art movement established by Ka-
zimir Malevich in 1915 that stands on painting in an abstract
geometric forms and associates with thoughts of spiritual
purity and independence [26]. It is difficult to identify what
painting in this way is about because it mostly conveys the
artist inner state in an abstract manner [21]. Its aim is to
produce an art that would make the viewer an active part of
the artistic work while he is trying to understand and interpret
the painting. Most of Malevich works were about searching
for the original, pure, and what is uncontaminated [5]. His
black square on a white canvas was the starting point of his
philosophy about suprematism.
In the early of 1920s, some Russian architects applied
suprematism in their architectural works such as Vladimir
Tatlin and Yakov-Chernikhov producing new kind of build-
ings [26]. These architects were the main members of con-
structivism; new Russian movement in architecture that ac-
tually made a shift in the overall view of architecture in the
country making it appear in a different way [4]. In the 1970s,
Hadid visited Russia and witnessed the grand development in
architecture as well as construction and she was fascinated by
such energetic society [7]. Since that time, Hadid is excited to
“inject the idea of motion and energy of suprematism into
architecture”; this resulted in creating fragment designs clas-
sified under deconstructivism [4]. Her interest in suprematism
was exposed for the first time in the graduation project in
Architecture Association (AA), London (1976-1977) in
which she embodied in painting Malevich Tektonik as the
concept of her project‟s form [11]. Fascinated in this trend,
Hadid practiced it in almost all of her early projects generat-
ing pieces of artistic architecture in a studious way specially
the ones that their theoretical notions stand in defying gravity
such as Grand Buildings in London.
4. Research Methodology
Since there is a lack of the academic sources specialized in
Hadid‟s techniques of designing form, this study depends on
her published discourse and texts as a reliable and primary
source of data [29]. The collected data covers all of hadid‟s
accessible interviews and texts in magazines, books, articles,
and the internet. The study conducted a content analysis of her
view, comments, feedbacks and thoughts following the tactics
of the qualitative study explained by Groat and Wang [13].
Content analysis is a rich method to get aplenty of primary
and “first-hand insights” of human thoughts and intentions
[34]. The qualitative study can be summed up into three stages
that are data collection, data coding, providing explanation
and conclusion. This method is used to identify main themes
related to Hadid‟s architecture; one of them is her techniques
of designing form. The techniques are derived literally from
Hadid‟s words, while the ways of applying each technique are
 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9 3

figured out through conducting a holistic study for the de-
scriptions of the accessible projects in regard of the general
conception of each one.
By collecting numerous data and going through them, the
related information was highlighted. It could be noticed that
Hadid had discussed various items repeatedly and this variety
could be categorized under main themes such as inspiring
notions, form patterns, and techniques which is the focus of
this paper. Based on that, data are coded and categorized; the
author separated each theme with all of Hadid‟s sayings and
words related to it. By the end of this stage, the six techniques
are defined as research‟s variables based on Hadid‟s clarifi-
cations in interviews. Then, a study is conducted for the ac-
cessible projects for the purpose of finding out the different
ways Hadid used to apply each technique; this is based on her
description to projects‟ form notion as well as their prevailing
characteristics. After that, it is noting the relationship between
variables which resulted in perceiving a contradiction be-
tween their functions. The final stage is giving explanation,
subsuming details into general, drawing conclusion for the
provided data and synthesizing the findings into a fine writing;
this stage is illustrated in Figure 1.

Source Procedures

Texts from books,

magazines &
websites
Data Collection: Hadid‟s interviews
Videos from dif-
ferent websites
Highlight all related information

Categorize this information under

metaphors representing different
Themes themes

* Techniques
* Strategy Collect all Hadid‟s words and phrases
of . . under one theme (clustering)
design
* Patterns
* Notions
Partitioning variables

Hadid‟s descrip- Defining the different ways of tech-

tions to projects‟ niques‟ application andcategorizing
notion in books them
and her website

Noting relationship between variables

Subsuming details into general &

collect them into fine writing

Fig. 1. Content Analysis for Zaha Hadid‟s Interviews

4 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9

embodying phenomena's occurrence and depicting their act

process as a form notion for projects. An example of that is
5. Zaha Hadid Techniques in Design Vitra Fire station in Germany (1994) whose configuration was
Hadid is famous by pushing boundaries and defying rules of generated by a collision of two main geometries forming the
conceiving space, design, and architectural convention. She area; the orientation of the factory complex within the sur-
creates her radical rules of design that are a result of the ad- rounding and the street (Fig. 2 and 3) [16]. Other two exam-
mixture of her experiences of long journey in design and ples are Beko-Masterplan in Belgrade, Serbia in which she
rationalism. Hadid is a good observer of art, nature, archi- embodied melting act as a form concept as well as she de-
tecture and the effective surrounding aspects. Her eagerness picted explosion act as the idea for the interior design of
to search for the sources of their aesthetics and key factors of Gmurzynska Gallery, Zurich. Table 1 shows some other ap-
attracting people to them qualified her to develop her own plied ways of abstraction and fragmentation techniques.
techniques. By using such techniques, she designs unprece-
dented set of works characterized by uniqueness and creativ-
ity. The techniques are derived literally from Hadid by em-
ploying content analysis for her texts and interviews con-
ducted by others while the ways of applying each technique
are figured out through using her words in describing projects‟
form notion and their prevailing characteristics. In this study,
Hadid‟s self-developed techniques in design are exposed, in
addition to the sources she inspired or learned from; each
technique has various ways applied in different projects. It
ends with an explanation for the perceived contradiction Ha-
did employs through her techniques in designing architectural
form.

5.1. Abstraction and Fragmentation

Abstraction and fragmentation are the most interesting tech-
niques used by Hadid to produce deconstructivist projects and
creative spaces. Through her hard investigation in designing
space, she discovered abstraction as a research principle that
is helpful for creating and discovering innovative spaces, in
addition to being a technique to unbounded invention [7]. Fig. 2. Collision of the surrounding geometries resulted into
Abstraction is to break down the normal illustration of per- generating Vitra Fire Station form, Germany (Courtesy of
ceiving things and the way of dealing with it. To paint in an zaha- Hadid. com)
abstract way is to portray it in volumes and geometrical
shapes and try to manipulate their organization by overlap-
ping or aggregation. Similarly, fragmentation is to break the
rules of known illustrative architecture which leads to pro-
ducing the same architecture like industrial mass production
as Hadid described it [20]. Hadid defines the fragmentation as
an application that follows these processes „break the block,
make it porous‟ then it creates „organizational patterns which
imply a new geometry‟ [24]. Applying abstraction principle
of suprematism imbues architecture by deconstructive fea-
tures resulting in generating Hadid‟s unique print in archi-
tecture [12]. She learned abstraction from the canvases of the
suprematist Kazimir Malevich who used abstract and geo-
metric forms to present his paintings. She claimed that ab-
straction offered her a vision for the trajectory of lines and that
her works are generated by having the eagerness to follow a
line and imagine it when it „changes and distorts‟ in a project
while it moves through „light and shadow‟ areas [25]. Ex-
ample for that is Maxxi Museum in Rome, Italy (2009). Fig.3. Vitra Fire Station,Weil am Rheine, Germany. (Cour-
Hadid applied abstraction and fragmentation in various tesy of http: archichoong.blogspot.com)
ways to generate form and space; the most exciting one is
 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9 5

Table 1.-The Application Ways of Abstraction and Frag-

mentation Techniques
Application
Project Location
Way
Amman,
Erosion King AbdUllah House of Culture
Jordan
Madrid,
Twisting Madrid Civil Courts
Spain
Nightclub (fourth year project at London,
Shattering
AA) Britain
Berlin,
Distortion Victoria City Arealin
Germany
Kirkcaldy,
Folding Maggie„s Centre Fife
Scotland
Hague, Ne-
Abstraction Hague Villas
therland
Hong
Fragmentation The Peak
Kong,China
Fig.4. The Multi-Ground of Edifici Campus in Barcelona,
5.2. Idea of the Ground and Gravity Spain (2006). (Courtesy of Http://Www.Evolo.Us/)
Hadid is the most well-known architect using this technique; Table 2. The Application Ways of Defing Gravity Technique
the technique of breaking free from the ground that is consi-
Application
dered a critical issue for most of her projects. She shakes the Project Location
Way
frozen notion of the ground floor by letting parts of it stay up Using inclined Miami
without support. She sometimes makes the ground porous in Collins Park Garage
columns Beach
order to let some elements work individually; therefore, these Queensland,
Using two bases Surfers Paradise Transit Center
elements could energetically take their places in the current Australia
urban design [15]. Hadid usually uses tilted columns, fluid Eli and Edythe Broad Art Mu- Michigan,
Inclined mass
seum USA
and inclined surfaces instead of dealing with right-angles. She
Arcs forms Jesolo Magica Jesolo, Italy
justified that by saying “There are 360 degrees, so why stick
Wolfsburg,
to one?” [22]. She declared that the static idea of the ground Using cones Phaeno Science Centre
Germany
was the reason of trapping modernist architects making them Masses manipu- Queensland,
producing the same architecture for a long period of time [19]. Dance and Music Centre
lation Australia
Hadid learned this technique from the suprematist Kazimir
who wrote “We can only perceive space when we break free 5.3. Landscaping Project and the Surrounding Context
from the earth, when the point of support disappears” [3]. People usually wonder at the compatibility of Hadid‟s build-
These words have largely affected Hadid‟s conception of ings with the surrounding although they totally have different
architecture. Furthermore, she learned how to liberate and characters in both form and materials. The secret lies in the
employ the ground in an active way from Mies van der Rohe‟s intense research Hadid does in the site and environment.
project, Barcelona Pavilion, in which he elevated the ceiling Landscaping the building means not dealing with the project
in limited slices of separated walls [15]. Since Hadid has when designing as an isolated thing but to try to make it as a
devoted her efforts to achieve the task of continuing the in- complementary part of the urban zone image. She tries as
complete project of modernism [4], she has diligently gener- much as possible to embed and melt the project within the
ated many ways to represent this technique. Some of these context by considering all the possible articulated relation-
applicable ways of breaking-free from the ground are de- ships such as topography and landscape [6]. Through design
signing exaggerated cantilever in Guggenheim Museum, process, Hadid tries to derive some features from the context
Taiwan, also extending and hanging project‟s ground over site to project and vice versa to guarantee a harmonic combination
topography in Villa for Golf and Spa Resort in Copenhagen. into each other. She learned this technique from Chinese
In Regium Waterfront project, Italy, Hadid carves the ground landscape, architecture, and art. In describing such expe-
up to the sky as if the building wants to get free from the land rience, Hadid stated that she admired the great manipulation
and fly. As a way of energizing the building facade, Hadid in and combination between the Chinese gardens and nature; in
PierresVives project, Montpellier makes some blocks exces- addition to “the way the traditional architecture is embedded
sively emanate from the building to show their rebellion to within the great theatre of natural landscapes” [28]. Using this
gravity. Another way is ground Manipulation in Edifici method affects both the general form and orientation of the
Campus form in Barcelona, Spain in which the grounds of building. If one return back to her early projects till mostly the
different floors were manipulated creating more than two mid of 2000s, it could be realized that she put all her efforts to
grids managing the plans (Fig. 4). Table 2 mentions the other generate the form; however lately, she gives part of her con-
ways of applying this technique in her projects. sideration to landscaping the project. She declared that in the
6 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9

early works, her aim was to create sculptured buildings that Centre, UAE (2008).(Courtesy of Zaha-Hadid.Com)
shine like isolated jewels, however; she is recently working
on making them dissolve and shape a new kind of landscape
to be a complementary part of modern cities [12]. Hadid used
different methods for landscaping the project; vanishing is
one that is commonly used by her. It is considered as a new
kind of landscaping the building in a way that makes it draw
attention and sight gradually from the site to the building
creating a strong connection between them. Metaphorically,
vanishing gives the project the feature of being a land born;
the building grew up from the site to be part of it. An example
is seen in Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre, UAE (Fig.5)
and E.ON Energy Research Department. Aachen, Germany.
Hadid learned fading technique from Chinese Painting. She
learned how painting layers space into infinity, giving us a Fig.6. Extending Project‟s Walls in-Heydar-Aliyev Culture
sense of unexplored depth and boundless freedom [18]. Centre. Baku, Azerbaijan (2007-12). (Courtesy of Za-
Another way of landscaping project is designing the confi- ha-Hadid.Com)
guration of the building according to land‟s shape like the
multi-functional building of Regium Waterfront in Reggio, or Table 3. The Application Ways of the Landscaping Tech-
according to urban grids like National Museum of XXI in nique
Rome, or sometimes based on site topography like Dubai Application Way Project Location
Opera House in UAE. Since landscaping architecture is about
Elevating ground JesoloMagica Jesolo, Italy
reducing human interference on the land to keep the picture of
Landscaping the Dongdaemun World Design
nature overriding, Hadid usually uses only one color for the Seoul, Korea
roof Park and Plaza
exterior form of her projects and she uses pavement that has Beko Complex redevelop- Belgrade,
the same color of their surfaces resulting in a kind of „uncer- Melting
ment Serbia
tainty‟ about the existence of the meeting line between Gardening
King AbdUllah Petroleum Riyadh, Saudi
building and site. Wall extension is also another way of open-interior
Studies Centre Arabia
landscaping the project in which Hadid expands and folds the spaces
Using large ex- Zurich, Swit-
walls of the building to form the pavement of the site designed Kusnacht Villa
panses of glass zerland
in a way that gives a sense of affiliation to the origin, the earth,
an instance is observed in the Stone Towers in Cairo, Egypt 5.4. Layering
and Heydar-Aliyev Culture centre, Azerbaijan (Fig.6). Re-
This technique enables Hadid to create amazing voids and
cently, Hadid used the same formative lines of the building to
spaces that meet her aspirations of architectural space. Com-
design the landscape of the site. If the building design uses
plex and fluid space is one of the tasks Hadid committed
spiral lines, the landscape design also takes the same manner
herself to carry out [4]. Fluid large foyer is assumed to be
such as pavements, green zones, lakes and stairs. This creates
Zaha Hadid‟s main imprint in majority of her large projects
a strong relationship between the building and site as if they
that she considered the main factor of socializing project [17].
merge to form one picture such as Cairo Expo City in Egypt.
Layering in painting is to apply more than one layer of color
Table 3 shows different ways of applying this technique.
to give the painting sensible depth. While layering in this
study means to deal with the floors of the building as sepa-
rated layers or levels; to lightly ignore the grid of the lower
floor and manipulate grounds‟ borders. Hadid declared that
the intricacies and energy of modern lifecycle „cannot be cast
into the simple orthogonal grids and blocks of the 20th Cen-
tury architecture of Henry Ford's era‟ [18]. Therefore, layer-
ing is manipulating the floors positions in terms of superpo-
sition to create energetic form such as Peak project. She
learned the way of conceiving space in layering from the
painting of Chinese art and morphology of erosion in nature.
Hadid admires their way of painting space in layers “into
infinity, giving us a sense of unexplored depth and boundless
freedom” [18]. Good example of this technique includes
AbdUllah Art Cultural Center which shows the bold mani-
pulation for the grounds of floors resulted in generating
Fig.5. Vanishing-landscaping, Abu Dhabi Performing Arts amazing interior fluid foyer and the great connection between
 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9
inside and outside__ see Fig.7 (a) &7(b).
Fig.7(a). Space Creation Through Layering Manipulation,
Abdullah Art Cultural Center in Amman,Jordan (2008).
Photos Courtesy of Zaha-Hadid.Com
Fig.7(b). The Creative Space of AbdUllah Art Cultural Center
In Amman,Jordan (2008). Photos Courtesy Of Za-
ha-Hadid.Com
5.5. Play of Light
Play of masses under the factor of daylight is one of the
techniques used intensively by Hadid wherein the element of
shadow adds motion and life to the elevation. Play of masses
could be achieved by using buckling, extrusion, fragmenta-
tion, abstraction, and making the building porous; most ap-
plications of these ways are explained in previous techniques.
Hadid stating that the building‟s color could by varied and
seen through concrete by considering the changes on it before
being built in the play of daylight [12]. She inspired this
technique from her meditation of nature and the Chinese
traditional painting art. She knows that the reason why people
are attracted to mountains is because of the simple meander-
ing in the mountains and the light factor which work together
to portray a beautiful view [19]. In addition, she learned from
Chinese art that light and shadow factors are important ele-
ments for any artistic work and she assumed that technique
could be achieved in architecture as well [28]. She applies this
technique through manipulating masses organization pre-
sented in bundles such as fragmentation (Fig. 8), overlapping,
accumulation, and juxtaposition as explained in (Table 4).
7
Fig.8. The Fragmented Form of Zollhof 3 Media Park, Ger-
many (Courtesy of El Croquis)
Table 4.The Application Ways of Play of Light Technique
Application
Project Location
Way
Weil
Juxtaposition Landesgartenschau 1999
am ,Germany
Overlapping The Habitable Bridge London, Britain
Accumulation La Fenice London, Britain
Zollhof 3 Media park (Fig-
Fragmentation Germany
ure 7)
5.6. Seamlessness and Fluidity
The last technique is applying the feature of seamlessness to
go through every part of the project. Seamlessness and fluid-
ity are noticeably prevalent characteristics in almost of Hadid
projects especially recent ones. She gets inspiration for this
technique from the complexity of form in nature, Arabic
calligraphy, and the natural seamless flow of the landscapes in
Sumerian village, Iraq that happens between reeds, water, and
sand creating an amazing view [12]. The most used substance
to achieve the desired seamless curves is concrete. She
usually tries to avoid using L shape or 90 degree corners by
curving the surfaces in order to give the sense of continuous
fluid space and sometimes by inclining surfaces toward the
inside or outside such as Eli and Edythe Art Museum in
Michigan, USA. Using such technique offers more converti-
ble and exposed surfaces which allow the natural light to enter
deeply through the building. Actually, the feature of fluid
space in Hadid projects makes the visitor unconsciously wants
to walk, move, and see what is next, self-directed, so there is
no need any more for an introductory guide and even for
signage. An example of that is seen in Maxxi Museum in
Rome where the visitor could experience fluidity; 16 year-old
boy describes moving through the different spaces in this
museum as if he is on a boat driven by the fluidity of the river
which „naturally erodes the riverside embankments‟ [17].
8 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9
6. Perceived Contradiction in Hadid and facilities.
Techniques
Through analyzing Hadid techniques of generating form, it is
References
assumed that contradiction is the underlying reason of her [1]
works‟ uniqueness. Paradox in the used techniques has
created integration in conceiving and achieving the innovative
and rational architecture. Hadid‟s self-developed techniques
qualified her to produce extraordinary works due to being a [2]
mixture between liberation and logic; rational and irrational;
strangeness and harmony. The liberating techniques for form
[3]
are fragmentation and abstraction, defying gravity, layering,
and play of light, while the others techniques that return form
to logic and qualified it to be real, friendly, and harmonic
project are landscaping, seamlessness and fluidity. The roots [4]
of these techniques have been learnt from different domains,
cultures, and countries and this interprets the familiarity of her [5]
architecture at the global level. For example, abstraction is a
technique enhanced by Hadid through studying mathematics [6]
and suprematism, while defying gravity is the one developed
by her through studying Chinese architecture, the Russian art; [7]
suprematism, and Mies van der Rohe projects.
In addition, fluidity and seamlessness are gained tech-
niques through observing the fluidness of Arabic calligraphy [8]
and organic things in nature, whereas landscaping the project,
play of light and layering are skills learnt from Chinese art, [9]
architecture, and landscape. Therefore, her architecture is a
result of many experiences, studies, efforts of generating what
is novel. The six techniques have been enhanced through [10]
travelling to many countries around the world such as China
and Istanbul that establishes the feature of worldliness in her
works. [11]
7. Conclusion: Architecture for the [12]
Future
Through observing the expressions for a number of people
[13]
who see her works in photos for the first time, one can see
their impressions that were full of wonder and surprise ac- [14]
companied with this question „Are these real projects or just a
matter of wow, such as those in the fictional animation films?‟ [15]
Hadid has actually exceeded our current time by designing the [16]
architecture that is imagined to be in the future; architecture
which is characterized by defying gravity, seamlessness, and [17]
fluidity. Her high sensation for art and beauty in designs has
attracted the attention of the new generation of architects and [18]
other designers in different sectors to be the inspiring role
model for their design. Her manipulation in employing con-
tradictory techniques resulted in the emergence of a new
[19]
globally kind of architecture that is friendly and lovely to
people. Without exaggerating, Hadid has brought a shift to the
way of conceiving architecture in the world, she has made
many architects look back again at their works and evaluate [20]
them whether they are reflecting this era with all its properties
Aiello T. (2005). “Head-First Through the Hole in the Zero: Ma-
levich‟s Suprematism, Khlebnikov‟s Futurism, and the Development
of a Deconstructive Aesthetic, 1908–1919”. Emaj Art Journal 1:
3.1-3.16. Accessed April 22nd, 2012. URL:
http://emajartjournal.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/thomasaiello.pdf.
Aref M. (2011). “Zaha Hadid, genius of the place”. Contemporary
Arab Affairs Vol.4, No. 3: 267-287. Accessed March 11, 2012. doi:
10.1080/17550912.2011.591545.
Bedell G. (2003). “Space is her place”. Art. The Guardian magazine. .
Accessed May14th, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2003/feb/02/architecture.arts
features.
Belogolovsky V. (2008). “Zaha Hadid”. Russian Architectural News
Agency. Accessed Sep 25th, 2012.
http://archi.ru/agency/eng/news_current.html?nid=8497.
Bowlt J. E. (1988).Russian Art of the Avant-Garde: Theory and Criti-
cism 1902-1934.London: Thames and Hudson, 133.
Colegio de arquitectosdelperu(2012). “Arq. ZAHA HADID – Entre-
vista”. YouTube. Accessed Dec 20th, 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT1Opt3qVCQ.
D‟Apuzzo A. M. (2011). “Interview with Zaha Hadid. Naslovna” .
Association of Novi Sad Architects. Accessed March3rd,2012.
http://www.dans.org.rs/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&i
d=282%20&It%20emid=52
DesignMuseum(2007). “Zaha Hadid”. Accessed Aug23rd, 2012.
http://designmuseum.org/design/zaha-hadid.
Didero M. C. (2012). “Zaha Hadid and Suprematism”. Domus maga-
zine. Accessed Dec 9th, 2012.
https://www.domusweb.it/content/domusweb/en/reviews/2012/07/27/
zaha-hadid-and-suprematism.html
Durmus S. &Gur S. O. (2011). “Methodology of deconstruction in
architectural education”. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 15:
1586-1594. Accessed May 4th, 2012. Doi:
10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.335.
Etherington R. (2010). “Zaha Hadid and Suprematism at GalerieG-
murznska Zurich”. DezeenMagazine.Accessed Feb 23, 2012.
http://www.dezeen.com/2010/07/12/zaha-hadid-and-suprematism-at-
galerie-gmurzynska-zurich/.
Glancey J. (2006). “I Don't Do Nice”. Art and Design. The Guardian
magazine. Accessed July 24th,2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/oct/09/architecture.com
munities.
Groat L. & Wang D. (2002). Architectural Research Methods. Canada:
John Wiley and Sons
Hadid Z. (2005). “Zaha Hadid”. The MIT Press 37: 130-135. Accessed
March 22nd, 2012. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40482248.
Hadid Z. (2006). “Interview Alvin Boyarsky with Zaha Hadid ”, in
Zaha Hadid. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 44-51.
Hadid Z. (2009).The Complete Zaha Hadid. London: Thames &
Hudson Ltd, 18.
Hadid Z. (2010). “An Email Dialogue July, 2010 Zaha Hadid”. In:
FUTAGAWA Y. (Ed.). Zaha Hadid Recent Projects, GA. Tokyo:
A.D.A. Edita Tokyo, 6-8.
Hadid Z. (2011). “Like a breath of fresh air”. China Daily USA
Newspaper.Accessed January 1st, 2013.
http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2011-12/30/content_1435659
5.htm.
Hattenstone S. (2003). “Master builder”. Art and Design, themonday
interview. The Guardian. Accessed March 3, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2003/feb/03/architecture.arts
features.
Hattenstone S. (2010). “Zaha Hadid: 'I'm happy to be on the out-
side”.Art and Design, saturday interview. The Guardian. Accessed
 Open Journal of Architectural Design (2013) 1-9
June 3rd, 2013.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/09/zaha-hadid.
[21] Kauw- A- Tjoe M. W. (1998).Generation of Abstract Geometric Art
Based on Exact Aesthetics, Gestalt Theory and Graphic Design Prin-
ciples. Master diss., University of Amsterdam.
[22] McCready L. (2011). “Form in Motion: Architect Zaha Hadid on Her
Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art”. Vogue Magazine. Ac-
cessed in Jan 7th, 2013.
http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/form-in-motion-architect-zaha-
hadid-on-her-exhibit-at-the-philadelphia-museum-of-art/#1.
[23] Mcleod M. (1989). “Architecture and Politics in the Reagan Era: From
Postmodernism to Deconstructivism”. The MIT Press No. 8: 22-59.
Accessed December 29,2011. URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171013.
[24] Meades J. (2008). “Zaha Hadid: The First Great Female Architect”.
Intelligent Life Magazine. Accessed April 18th, 2012.
http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/zaha-hadid.
[25] Michaud J. (2011). “Zaha Hadid: The Lady GAGA of Architecture”.
The New Yorker. Accessed June 25th, 2012.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/backissues/2011/07/zaha-had
id.html.
[26] Mertins D. (2006). “The Modernity of Zaha Hadid”, in Zaha Hadid the
Complete Building and Projects, ed. Aaron Betsky. New York: Gug-
genheim Museum, 33-37.
View publication stats
9
[27] Patin T. (1993). “From Deep Structure to an Architecture in Suspense”.
Journal of Architectural Education 47:88-100. Accessed December 21,
2011. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425170.
[28] Platt K. H. (2012). “Zaha Hadid and the Energy of Change”. The New
York Times. Accessed June 18, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/arts/13iht-rarthadid13.html.
[29] Pole C. and Lampard R. (2002). Practical Social Investigation: quali-
tative and quantitative methods in Social Research. Harlow, England:
prentice Hall.
[30] Reid L. E. 2009, Zaha Hadid:The Female Modernist of the
Twenty-First Century. Master diss., University of Texas.
[31] Schumacher P. (2010), The Parametric City. In: FUTAGAWA Y. (Ed.).
Zaha Hadid Recent Projects, GA. Tokyo: A.D.A. Edita Tokyo, 42.
[32] Wigley M. (1989). “The Translation of Architecture, the Production of
Babel”. The MIT Press No.8: 6-21. Accessed December 30, 2011.
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171012.
[33] Wigley M. (1996). “The Architecture of Deconstruction : Derrida ' s
Haunt”. Journal of Architectural Education Vol.49, No. 4: 266-268.
Accessed December 21, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425301.
[34] Wong J.(2010). “The text of free-form architecture: qualitative study of
the discourse of four architects”. Design Studies Vol.31 No. 3:
237-267. doi:10.1016/j.destud.2009.11.002.