Pierres Vives, Zaha Hadid Architects, Montpellier, France

It is not a big secret, that we are huge-huge fans of Zaha Hadid's sculptural architecture and now that the Pierres Vives project, in France, has been completed, a new post was in order!

Pierres Vives, Zaha Hadid Architects, Montpellier, France

Looks like Europe is catching up quick on future architecture projects, re-inventing itself, year after year.

Zaha Hadid, MAXXI Opening, Rome

Hadid adds another gem in Europe, this time in Rome.

The MAXXI, Italy's new national museum of XXI century art, which took 10 years to complete, finally opened its doors to the public recently, although the official opening will take place next Spring.

The 30,000 square meters colossus of glass, steel and concrete will be hosting almost 6,000 square meters of sweeting galleries enclosed by curving windowless cast concrete walls!

And if you are still looking for the wow factor, well turn your head to the sky and you will. The roof is fully glazed, integrating complex light shading devices and artificial lighting systems and a system to control temperature and humidity. Quite complex.

MAXXI is yet another proof of Rome's long standing affection for revolutionary architecture. Bravo, Rome!

More Zaha Hadid in Future Architecture:

London Aquatics Centre

Regium Waterfront Museum, Italy

Antwerp Port House

Cairo Towers

Zaha Hadid Architects – Towers, Cairo

Zaha Hadid architects have unveiled plans of The Stone Towers - a 525,000sqm office and retail complex for the rooya group, in cairo, egypt.

A five-star business hotel with serviced apartments, retail with food and beverage facilities and sunken landscaped gardens and plaza called the 'delta' is also included in the development.

Inspired by the patterns and textures of ancient Egyptian stonework, the north and south facades of each tower will be covered with recesses and protrusions emphasizing the effects of light and shadow on the surfaces.

From Zaha Hadid Architects:

STONE TOWERS, CAIRO BY ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

‘The Stone Towers by Zaha Hadid Architects for Rooya Group of Egypt is located in the Stone Park district of Cairo. Providing office and retail facilities to a rapidly expanding Cairo, the unique 525,000sqm Stone Towers development also includes a five-star business hotel with serviced apartments, retail with food and beverage facilities and sunken landscaped gardens and plaza called the ‘Delta’.

Ancient Egyptian stonework incorporates a vast array of patterns and textures that, when illuminated by the intense sunlight of the region, creates animated displays of light and shadow. The effect is powerful, direct and inspiring. The facades on the North and South elevations of each building within Stone Towers adopts a rich vocabulary of alternating protrusions, recesses and voids to enhance the deep reveal shadow lines that accentuate the curvatures of each building within the development and animate the project throughout the day.

‘I am delighted to be working in Cairo,’ states Hadid. ‘I have visited Egypt many times and I have always been fascinated by the mathematics and arts of the Arab world. In our office we have always researched the formal concepts of geometry - which relates a great deal to the region’s art traditions and sciences in terms of algebra, geometry and mathematics. This research has informed the design for Stone Towers.’

Client: Rooya Group
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Structural Engineer: Adams Kara Taylor
Gross Building Area: 525,000 m2
Site Area: 170,000 m2

More Zaha Hadid in Future Architecture:

London Aquatics Centre

Regium Waterfront Museum, Italy

Antwerp Port House

The London Aquatics Centre by Zaha Hadid

Pritzker Prize winning architect Zaha Hadid, has designed the London Aquatics Centre, an indoor facility with two 50 metre swimming pools and a 25 metre diving pool, which will become one of the main venues of the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

The centre is located in the Olympic Park at Stratford in East London and its distinctive architecture and curved roof will be the first venue visitors see upon entering the Olympic Park.

The aquatics centre is one of the most controversial buildings on the Olympic site. It was originally costed at £73 million. The current bill is £303 million.

Despite the cost increases, the centre should be completed within 2011 and is a good bet for becoming one of London’s new iconic images.

As expected the impact of the building on the environment will be reduced by the use of renewable energy, sustainably sourced building materials, reuse of pool water to flush the toilets etc.

More Zaha Hadid in Future Architecture:

Regium Waterfront Museum, Italy

Antwerp Port House

Zaha Hadid - Regium Waterfront Museum Italy

When you want your city to be referred to as the cultural capital of the Mediterranean you need something that would get international attention.
That’s exactly what the city of Reggio Calabria did when they assigned Zaha Hadid with the development of the Regium Waterfront, a museum and a multifunctional block that will include a shops, cinemas, a gym and even local craft laboratories!
The location (and a sea star…) was all Zaha needed to get inspired since it provided a great opportunity for creating two really peculiar constructions. The two buildings will sit on the narrow sea strait separating continental Italy from Sicily and will be visible from the Sicily coast and the sea.
Another exploration of organic formations has just begun and the Mediterranean will be proud to bare the mark of such a future forward building!

Zaha Hadid to Design New Port House in Antwerp

The future headquarters of Antwerp Port Authority will be designed by the London firm of Zaha Hadid Architects.
The new building will be built upon sustainable principles and will be completed in 2013 and will be the workplace for 500 people currently working in different premises.
In addition to offering better accommodation, the future Port House will contribute to further development and upgrading of this part of the city and will become a symbol of the Port and an economic driver for the Antwerp area.
Nearly 100 architectural firms presented their ideas on this project and only five of them made it to the shortlist, with Zaha Hadid Architects proposal being the winning one.

The estimated construction cost is 31.5 million euros excluding VAT and architect’s fees. This includes all the work for an office building with around 12,000 m² of floorspace for around 500 people, together with underground parking for 300 or so cars.

A landmark on the making.

Zaha Hadid designs plastic shoes

The award-winning architect collaborates with shoe company to create futuristic shoes In the era of the high-rise heel, it’s no surprise that an architect has been called upon to design women’s shoes. Architect Zaha Hadid, known for her abilities to mould metal and glass into spectacular buildings, has joined forces with Brazilian shoemakers Melissa to create a new women’s shoe.

The £200 limited edition shoe takes on features of one of Hadid’s grand-scale designs with cut out holes for the toes and diagonally sloping straps. "I have 30 years of research on different areas of architecture and design and this was a very challenging project," said Hadid, "not only in design but on the technical side.
source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk"