zaha-hadid « WordPress.com Tag Feed

.:: Contro Euclide

emmanuelepilia — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:57:27 +0000

Dei rapporti che intercorrono tra le scienze e l'architettura, di certo lo strumento capace di intessere trami sempre più articolate è la geometria euclidea. Dalla Classicità al Rinascimento, passando per tutti i vari neoclassicismi ed eclettismi, movimento moderno e post-moderno architettonico, è stata presente l'ombra di questa, dandosi come unico legame capace di tenere in piedi in un ché di organico l'intero sistema storico dell'architettura. Sia abbracciando che reagendo ad essa, si è sempre stati alla ricerca di una armonia geometrica e spaziale sempre più articolata, portando all'estremo la ricerca di una perfezione che vede nell'appiattimento del particolare al totale, e nelle relazioni tra le parti, la più alta creazione. Ma con l'avvento di quel che Philip Jhonson aggettivò come decostruttivismo architettonico (ammiccando così un pò al filosofo (giustamente) più ricercato del momento, Jacques Derrida, ed un pò alla corrente russa da cui sembrava derivare molto del fenomeno, il costruttivismo) Euclide diventa l'oggetto di una profonda critica, per cui la liberazione dell'architettura da ogni totalitarismo della forma potesse avvenire soltanto l'emancipazione dalla geometria. Nasce così una sperimentazione sempre più disinvolta verso tentativi sempre più estremi di ribaltare qualsivoglia gerarchia spaziale, portando la geometria oltre i limiti immaginati duemilacinquecento anni fa dallo stesso Euclide. Questa ricerca, che si è rivelata feconda oltre ogni modo, accomunante sotto una unica ala un movimento che si manifestava secondo le più disparate forme, non ha prodotto però l'emancipazione che si sperava. Un disinibito approccio alla tecnologia ed alla forma, uno scandagliare nel quotidiano e nel brutto, un virtuosismo spudorato, mai raggiunto prima. Ironicamente però, come il poeta romantico descritto da Fichte nella Dottrina della Scienza, il quale si vedeva centro di un turbinoso superare di limiti che esso stesso aveva posto, l'architetto decostruttivista pare intrappolato sempre più nelle griglie metriche imposte dalla convenzione, ed ogni tentativo di superare il limite posto, si risolve in un allargamento del dominio euclideo, portando così ad una disperata ricerca che non può che concludersi nello stesso dramma in cui sono destinati i romantici, nonostante ogni nuovo traguardo mostra, ipocritamente, come l'obiettivo sembra raggiunto.

Emblema di questo dramma è senza di dubbio Peter Eisenman, il quale si è visto travolto dall'ossessiva ricerca del superamento del proprio limite, scandagliando quasi fosse un sonar nella ricerca di ogni minima falla del sistema, portando però ad una gloriosa vittoria il proprio avversario, portando a limiti mai raggiunti le possibilità del modello. Ma proprio in questo consiste la grandiosità della ricerca di Eisenman, iniziata con le griglie trasfigurate della serie House, e di cui la biblioteca per la Piazza delle Nazioni a Ginevra ne è l'esempio più estremo. Ma se l'approccio di Eisenman può apparire come una felice accettazione di una ricerca impossobile, è straordinario osservare come un'intera generazione di architetti, che non si era presa tra i loro impegni quello di disgregare il modello geometrico dominante, è riuscita a porre una alternativa talmente valida che addirittura Zaha Hadid dovrà riconoscerne il merito, proseguendo per la stessa strada. Questo approccio deriva infatti dall'utilizzo della geometria NURBS, sistema di gestione di geometrie topologiche esteso anche ai professionisti grazie allo sviluppo del software Rhinoceros, che ha reso possibile lo schiudersi alla comunità architettonica di una quantità di possibilità quasi paralizzante per la sua dimensione. Così, ciò che non potè essere fatto tramite anche le più avanzate tecniche di modellazione tridimensionale e morphing vari, perchè comunque derivanti da modelli sottostanti alle regole cartesiane, la topologia porta una nuova consapevolezza dietro di se: quello della possibilità di una continuità di forma che solo l'architettura gotica era riuscita a creare. L'estetica post-Kantiana, del quale il particolare deve poter essere ricondotto all'universale, perde la presa su una creazione di oggetti che fa di se stesso particolare ed universale, la cui superficie è essa stessa oggetto e piano di riferimento, il quale segue e descrive ogni curvatura della stessa, descrivendone le interruzioni, unica possibilità di individuare le relazioni con gli oggetti separati da se. Di questa strada, maestro tra i tanti è certamente Greg Lynn, autore dell'oggetto di design blobwall, separatore per ambienti che gioca appunto con questa proprietà della geometria topologica di descrivere se stessa in ogni piega. Da questo, pare curioso il destino dell'architettura, che vede le proprie rivoluzioni in oggetti così effimeri, e nelle sue opere monumentali l'eterno ritorno del proprio canto del cigno.

countdown to new york : Chanel's Central Park Spacecraft

divasoria — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:12:50 +0000

if there is anything that makes my heart do a thousand little somersaults , that would be two things - chanel and new york. sure louis vuitton can sometimes make me go crazy but chanel.

oh chanel. OH OH OH CHANEL.

i've always loved chanel even as a little girl - coco chanel's feisty persona and style captured much of my childhood fashion fantasies - she was spunky and fierce and a little bit of a tomboy but feminine to the core, much like my other idol madonna (also, a leo like myself and coco). and well, new york is my spiritual home. but to combine the two? that's christmas in october!

so naturally, i was beyond excited to read about this -

"Called Mobile Art, the structure itself was designed by the renowned London architect Zaha Hadid and will occupy the Rumsey Playfield, midpark at 70th Street, from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9. ......Chanel, the fashion brand, commissioned Ms. Hadid to create the traveling structure to house works by about 15 hot contemporary artists. Each was asked to create a work that was at least in part inspired by Chanel’s classic 2.55 quilted-style chain handbag, so named because it was first issued in February 1955."

ahh art after my own heart :)

contemporary art galleries of London

lekhikaa — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:22:18 +0000

Serpentine Gallery

This unassuming former tea pavilion, considered an institution by contemporary art lovers, is situated in Kensington Gardens and a stone’s throw from Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Palace. The journey to the Serpentine itself is an enchanting roam through Hyde Park and past the Serpentine river. Run by the relentlessly energetic and enigmatic Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist, the Serpentine has evolved into more than just a showcase for artists such as Bridget Riley, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman. The gallery runs diverse education programmes, seminars, exhibitions, architecture and public programmes attracting over 750,000 visitors yearly and is staging the next instalment of an innovative exhibition of Chinese artists in collaboration with the Battersea Power Station.
Summer time is when the Serpentine Gallery comes alive. Aside from being a home for the arts, every summer, the gallery holds court to a summer pavilion and its annual summer party frequented by the likes of Kate Moss, Pierce Brosnan, Elle McPherson and Kiera Knightley. The pavilion is commissioned yearly by the gallery and created by a different architect each year, including Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Rem Koolhas and Olafur Eliasson & Cecil Balmond’s latest collaboration. Each pavilion plays summer host to gallery talks, black-tie functions and Hans Ulrich’s 24-hour experimental marathon events. This very unique gallery thrives in building the connection between the art and its public, creating projects and events that help bridge the understanding and relationship between the two.

Kensington Gardens
London
W1 3XA
Tel: +44 207 402 6075
http://www.serpentinegallery.org

Saatchi Gallery

Exhibiting works by mostly new and unknown artists, the Saatchi gallery is seen by many as a launching pad for fresh faces entering the scene. Opened by Charles Saatchi, a former advertising executive, the gallery was originally established to showcase his extensive art collection. When Saatchi first launched his gallery in 1985, contemporary art only attracted a select audience. Twenty years later, the Saatchi gallery welcomes over 600,000 visitors a year and is perhaps the largest private gallery of contemporary art in the world.
Moving from the grandiose South Bank location to Chelsea’s equally expansive Duke of York’s HQ which opens this summer, the gallery presents both British and international artists, both the established as well as the unseen, introducing novel and revolutionary art that has influenced the way contemporary art is viewed in Britain. Saatchi cemented his reputation in the contemporary scene as a patron to Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and other Young British Artists. The diverse range of artists shown at the gallery, which also include Julian Schnabel, Chris Ofili on its list of luminaries, have never failed to bring forth media controversy due to the rebellious nature and content of the pieces and Saatchi’s unbowing stance to protect the freedom of expression for the artists he represents.
The Saatchi gallery thrives on the unfamiliar, the unidentified, the unseen and unheard of – of the new forms of art being born every day. It is a gallery that understands how the power of debate can raise the public’s consciousness of what contemporary art means to them as individuals.
True to character, this year Saatchi is taking yet another huge risk and leap of faith by opening his new Chelsea gallery with The Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art, an exhibition of works by contemporary Chinese artists whose names would not be recognized by the public. This year, Saatchi aims to reach a wider audience through the elimination of entry fees that was previously implemented in his South Bank gallery.

Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York’s Headquarters
Kings Road
London
SW3 4SD
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk

bridge pavilion exp08 - zaha hadid

lareka — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:28:46 +0000

Aprovechando la galería de flickr Zaha Hadid bridge pavilion expo 08 creada para este proyecto de Zaha Hadid, aprovechamos para ponerlas en el blog.

Decir que a tronka y a m nos ha decepcionado mucho, no convence ni la forma, ni la piel que lo recubre, ni na, en mi opinión no "pega" con el entorno, no encaja, no lo ves.

Por dentro, la cosa mejora un poco, pero no llega a convencer. Los acabados no existen (parece que lleva en pie por lo menos una decada a tenor del estado), los materiales empleados no convencen, y se generan unas corrientes de aire que te dejan pensando que pasará en invierno cuando ese aire templado del verano se convierta en gélido.

Además, la iluminación exterior, lamentable.

En fin, para mi, un ROSCO para Zaha, lo siento cain :D .

Foto: arquitecturainteligente.wordpress.com

$3b Farrer condo boasts sensuous, curvy towers

idealresidence — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:25:51 +0000

$3b Farrer condo boasts sensuous, curvy towers

Renowned architect Zaha Hadid behind their design; project to be launched in 2009

By Joyce Teo

PROPERTY giant CapitaLand has unveiled the 'branded' upmarket designs for a $3 billion residential project in Farrer Road that it aims to launch next year.

The as-yet-unnamed condominium boasts a series of sensuous lines that are not commonly seen in residential projects in Singapore, while the curving towers give an ultra-modern feel without the harsh edges present on many blocks.

It is all very much in the recognised style of architect Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize.

This is her first condo project in Singapore but she has designed two bungalows for niche developer Elevation Developments.

Past Pritzker Architecture Prize winners include Mr Frank Gehry, Sir Norman Foster and Mr Rem Koolhaas.

The seven 36-storey blocks on the sprawling 838,488 sq ft site will hold about 1,500 homes. There will also be six pairs of unique semi-detached houses.

CapitaLand is developing the 99-year leasehold plot with three partners. Hotel Properties and a Morgan Stanley Real Estate fund will each hold 22.5 per cent, while Wachovia Development will take 20 per cent.

These parties, which borrowed a whopping $1.996 billion for the ambitious project, yesterday held a signing ceremony for the loan with their bankers at the Four Seasons Hotel.

It is the largest syndicated residential property development loan ever arranged in Singapore and comes amid a slow housing scene and tight credit markets.

CapitaLand said the deal comprises a $1.362 billion term loan, $500 million of revolving credit and $133.9 million in bank guarantees.

The collective sale deal for the former Farrer Court condo site was inked in June last year at $1.338 billion, or up to $783 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area.

Ms Patricia Chia, chief executive of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, said the project's break- even cost is around $1,350 psf to $1,450 psf.

The condo will be launched in the first half of next year.

Developers generally see no need to hurry given the slow property sector, falling share markets and continuing bad news from the United States.

CapitaLand chief executive Liew Mun Leong said at the signing ceremony that the past few months have been challenging, but the business world must go on, notwithstanding the current economic turbulence in the US.

He said bankers, developers, businesses and potential partners could come together to exploit opportunities that increase during bad times.

Mr Liew added later: 'Sentiment has been affected in the US, but I think the fundamentals in Asia - in terms of economic growth, the demand, urbanisation - are still very strong.'

UNIQUE DESIGN: The as-yet-unnamed condo's 36-storey towers will feature a series of sensuous lines not commonly seen in residential developments in Singapore. The penthouse units (above) in the project offer good views. The project will be launched in the first half of next year. -- PHOTOS: CAPITALAND

Source: Straits Times

$3b Farrer condo boasts sensuous, curvy towers

lushhomeonline — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:24:13 +0000

CapitaLand has unveiled the ‘branded’ upmarket designs for a $3 billion residential project in Farrer Road that it aims to launch next year.

It is all very much in the recognised style of architect Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the coveted Pritzker Architecture Prize.

$3b Farrer condo boasts sensuous, curvy towers

lushhomeonline — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:23:34 +0000

Renowned architect Zaha Hadid behind their design; project to be launched in 2009

PROPERTY giant CapitaLand has unveiled the 'branded' upmarket designs for a $3 billion residential project in Farrer Road that it aims to launch next year.

UNIQUE DESIGN: The as-yet-unnamed condo's 36-storey towers will feature a series of sensuous lines not commonly seen in residential developments in Singapore. The penthouse units (left) in the project offer good views. The project will be launched in the first half of next year. -- PHOTOS: CAPITALAND