Zaha Hadid died in 2016, at the age of 65. She cerÂtainÂly wasÂn’t old, by the stanÂdards of our time, though in most proÂfesÂsions, her best workÂing years would already have been behind her. She was, howÂevÂer, an archiÂtect, and by age 65, most archiÂtects are still very much in their prime. Take Rem KoolÂhaas, who today remains a leader of the Office of MetÂroÂpolÂiÂtan ArchiÂtecÂture in his eightÂies — and who, back in the sevÂenÂties, was one of Hadid’s teachÂers at the ArchiÂtecÂturÂal AssoÂciÂaÂtion School of ArchiÂtecÂture in LonÂdon. It was there that KoolÂhaas gave his promisÂing, unconÂvenÂtionÂal stuÂdent the assignÂment of basÂing a project on the art of KazÂimir MaleÂvich.
SpecifÂiÂcalÂly, as archiÂtect Michael WyetÂznÂer explains in the new ArchiÂtecÂturÂal Digest video above, Hadid had to adapt one of MaleÂvich’s “arkhitekÂtons,” which were “objects that took his ideas of shapes that he used in his paintÂings” — the most wideÂly known among them being Black Square, from 1915, preÂviÂousÂly feaÂtured here on Open CulÂture — “and turned them into a 3D piece.”
To underÂstand Hadid’s forÂmaÂtion, then, we must go back to the earÂly-twenÂtiÂeth-cenÂtuÂry RusÂsia in which MaleÂvich operÂatÂed as an avant-garde artist, and in which he launched the moveÂment he called SupreÂmaÂtism, whose name reflects “the idea that his art was conÂcerned with the supremaÂcy of pure feelÂing, as opposed to the repÂreÂsenÂtaÂtion of the real world.”
As a pioÂneer of “non-objecÂtive” art, MaleÂvich did his part to inspire Hadid on her path to designÂing buildÂings that come as close to abstracÂtion as techÂnoÂlogÂiÂcalÂly posÂsiÂble. In fact, durÂing the iniÂtial phasÂes of Hadid’s career, what we think of as her sigÂnaÂture curve-intenÂsive archiÂtecÂturÂal style — exemÂpliÂfied by buildÂings like the LonÂdon AquatÂics CenÂtre and the DongÂdaeÂmun Design Plaza in Seoul — wasÂn’t techÂnoÂlogÂiÂcalÂly posÂsiÂble. ExamÂinÂing her earÂly paintÂings, such as the one of the arkhitekÂton-based bridge hotel she turned in to KoolÂhaas, or her first built projects like the VitÂra Fire StaÂtion in Weil am Rhein, shows us how her ideas were already evolvÂing in direcÂtions then pracÂtiÂcalÂly unthinkÂable in archiÂtecÂture. Zaha Hadid has now been gone nearÂly a decade, but her field is in many ways still catchÂing up with her.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
An IntroÂducÂtion to the World-Renowned ArchiÂtect Zaha Hadid, “the Queen of the Curve”
What Makes KazÂimir Malevich’s Black Square (1915) Not Just Art, But ImporÂtant Art
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on the social netÂwork forÂmerÂly known as TwitÂter at @colinmarshall.
Am folÂlowÂer of Ar.Zaha Hadid design conÂcept and hope the world is missÂing.