Zaha Hadid (plan, floor, architect, build)

[Hazel W]

I was taken by her comment seen in yesterday's New York Times magazine. "The world is not a rectangle" - apparently a reply to those who criticized her architectural style. A collection of pictures online shed light on the story. She has a building in Cincinnati that looks like an adjustment to her usual. It almost became a rectangle, didn't it?

Interesting thought on her part, anyway, isn't it?

[mrpeatie]

Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Center.

It is a little ironic that it literally looks like a series of cubes suspended in a rectangle except for that one curved wall at the base. But the big deal is that the inside is just that- cubes suspended in the rectangle. So the main area is a large volume. And the stairs/ramps don't follow a stacked plan but go from area to area where a more traditional layout would be for a set of stairs being stacked vertically in the same spot on each floor.

I'm not always a fan of hers but I like this building. And the dirty little secret for her, Gehrny and many of the others is that everyone noticed the big/bold shapes when a many times the interior still has square rooms in it. Because sometimes function does trump all.

[Hazel W]

Originally Posted by mrpeatie

Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Center.

It is a little ironic that it literally looks like a series of cubes suspended in a rectangle except for that one curved wall at the base. But the big deal is that the inside is just that- cubes suspended in the rectangle. So the main area is a large volume. And the stairs/ramps don't follow a stacked plan but go from area to area where a more traditional layout would be for a set of stairs being stacked vertically in the same spot on each floor.

I'm not always a fan of hers but I like this building. And the dirty little secret for her, Gehrny and many of the others is that everyone noticed the big/bold shapes when a many times the interior still has square rooms in it. Because sometimes function does trump all.

Of course, all I saw is the pictures but I liked her work from that point of view. Strange, too, because I've seen others who tried the curving walls and it didn't seem to work at all. Maybe I shouldn't say 'work'. It didn't seem attractive to me. That's better. Whether or not it works is for those inside to say.

[archineer]

There's an interesting architectural dialogue to be had between the orthogonal and the organic IMO. Plus the earliest buildings were not square.