Notable Architecture 1

Contracts signed for House of Culture & Art

Early designs for Zaha Hadid Architects’ winning proposal for the King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art were released yesterday as the design contracts were signed by the Greater Amman Municipality. Hadid and partner Patrik Schumacher have developed another grandiose design which is scheduled to commence construction in early 2012.

The project includes a 1600-seat concert theatre, 400-seat theatre, educational centre, rehearsal rooms, and galleries. Inspired by the ‘uniqely beautiful monument of Petra’, the building is designed as an artificial oasis and sanctuary for contemporary culture.

“Contemporary architecture is striving to emulate nature and imbue architecture with the intricate complexity and elegance of natural forms. In Petra we admire the way the rose-colored mountain walls have been fi ssured, eroded, carved and polished to reveal the strata of sedimentation along the fl uid lines of the fl uvial erosions,” said Hadid. “We are applying the principle of fluid erosion and carving to the mass of the building for the performing arts centre. This principle of erosion is the sole means of articulating the public spaces in the building. There can be no doubt that this inviting design will wash away the threshold anxiety that sometimes is felt in front of monumental cultural buildings. While the erosion creates the public foyer spaces the remaining mass represents the performance spaces.”

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=13455

Representative of the realization of a new language of form and expressionism in architecture enabled by Digital design and engineering. Hadid, born in Iraq, is the foremost female architect of our time. I saw her lecture at Harvard GSD when her ideas were considered unbuildable and also attended an stunning exhibition of her work at the Guggenheim in NYC.