io9: Zaha Hadid

Interior Design That Looks Like an Alien Nest is Covering Your Wall

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:10:58 PDT

If you've always wanted to decorate your house to look like a shinier, cleaner version of the queen's knobby, textured nest in Aliens, here is a template for you. Architect Zaha Hadid has created artistic interpretations of several buildings she's designed, and they all look like beautiful monsters and spaceship interiors. See more below.

This image, as well as the top one above, are both details from a plan Hadid made for modernizing the Asian side of Istanbul. Below, you can see two details she refers to as "Opera House desks," inspired by some interior work she did for the Abu Dhabi performing arts center.

If you'd like to see these designs in the flesh, Hadid will be constructing some of them at an upcoming New York show. Hadid's exhibition will be open 1 November - 13 December at the Sonnabend Gallery and 169 10th Avenue in New York.

Learn more about Hadid on her website [via Dezeen]

Haute Couture Spaceship Travels From City to City in Segments

Lisa Katayama — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:41:49 PDT

In order to send a spaceship-like pavilion on a journey across the world, Zaha Hadid architects created this Chanel Pavilion, a portable 7500 square foot art venue that will travel from Hong Kong to New York to Moscow to Paris over the next year. The steel structure breaks apart into segments that are no more than seven feet each, and the whole thing can be built like Legos in less than a week. The sleek, timeless style pays homage to the haute couture brand Chanel, its namesake, and was commissioned by designer Karl Lagerfeld.

The Chanel Pavilion recently made its Hong Kong debut and moves to Tokyo in April.

Zaha Hadid main page

Teardrop Skyscrapers and a Metonymic Park in Seoul 2016

LISA KATAYAMA — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:00:34 PST

Eight years and $31 billion from now, Seoul, Korea's Yongsan business district's cityscape will feature a whole new set of super-tall, futuristic buildings. The project is led by a seemingly odd alliance between Samsung Corporation and the National Pension Fund Service.

The nearby metonymic Dongdaemun World Design Park will open in 2010. It's designed by Zaha Hadid. Images by the Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul Metropolitan Government via Designboom

Space-Age Igloo Train Station at Ski Resort

LISA KATAYAMA — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:00:59 PST

Austria got a major facelift last month with the completion of the Nordpark Cable Railway, which connects four major rail stations with a wildly popular ski resort at Innsbruck. The fantabulous igloo theme and the space station-like interiors are all thanks to star architect Zaha Hadid, who previously designed a ski jump in Innsbruck that won the Olympic Committee's 2005 Gold Medal for Design.

Images by Helene Binet, Iwan Baan & Werner Huthmacher

Ice Station Zaha [World Architecture News]

A Transluscent Addition to the Hong Kong Skyline

LISA KATAYAMA — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:30:56 PST

Hong Kong Polytechnic University needed a major image boost. So administrators hired hot shot London-based architect Zaha Hadid to create a brand new building, the Innovation Tower, which will house its design school. Starting in 2011, students will disappear into the spaceship-like main lobby via escalator and continue up to four stories of translucent workspaces illuminated with oddly shaped skylights. More pics after the jump.

Images by Zaha Hadid
Hong Kong Polytechnic University [Dezeen]