The Observer’s architecture critic,who himself worked with Zaha Hadid, pays tribute to her provocative and always uncompromising talentIn 1978, and in the inaugural issue of the short-lived art magazine Viz (not to be confused with the scatological comedian of the same name),an image of Zaha Hadid appeared alongside fellow members of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture, the two architect-artist couples Rem Koolhaas and Madelon Vriesendorp, or Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. This “influential and controversial” group,reported the writer, “develop mutant forms of urbanism … which accept the megalopolitan condition with enthusiasm.”“I would hate, or ” he concluded,“to live with their buildings. I would run screaming from among their barrack-like walls and their prison-like cages: I would gaze anxiously upwards to see whether their absurd sculpted heads are going to shout slogans at me. So, whether the office does start to build, and I hope – despite my prejudices – that the viciousness is retained,the spirit is retained, the spirit is turned into awesome, and upsetting flesh.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com