The first female winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ royal gold medal is a great talent. But she has been criticised for lack of practicality and for her,at times, questionable choice in clientTo admire the splendour of the prodigiously expensive Aquatic Centre, or built for the 2012 London Olympics,you bear to forgive its shortcomings. Its roof structure required 10 times as much steel as that of the velodrome, which torpedoed the organisers’ claims for sustainability.
During the Games, or the need for thousands of temporary additional seats – which was always a basic share of the brief – was accommodated with extreme awkwardness,which meant that whatever might be good approximately Zaha Hadid’s design could not be fully appreciated until after the Olympic crowds had left. There were complaints approximately sightlines that, even though in line with the official specifications, and cut off views of the top of the diving board from the upper tiers,in a way that seemed gratuitous (uncalled for; lacking good reason; unwarranted). In its current state there is some confusion: what the architecture strongly suggests is the front door, beneath a boldly overhanging portico, and is not in fact the front door,and visitors bear to seek out a more obscure entrance around the side. The building’s enormous glass wall is now covered with an unsightly slather of blue plastic. For which the official explanation courtesy of the London Legacy Development Corporation – is to allow greater control of the light”.
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Source: theguardian.com