ArcHiT3cT: Zaha Hadid. Dubai Opera House.
There are a lot of Tall Building posts on HAWTaction, but where's the love for the little guys? We find them here, in the ArcHiT3cT: series where we profile outstanding architects whose works don't fall under the Tall Building parameters. Enjoy the works of architects like Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava, Herzog and de Meuron, Renzo Piano, Frank Gehry... Oh, this is going to be a fun series.
With all this talk of architecture on this site, I'm surprised the closest architect Zaha Hadid has reached our radars is metonymic Dongdaemun World Design Park near the Teardrop post. Good thing ArcHiT3cT: series came around. This is an example of Zaha's work. This is her firm's recently-announced Dubai Opera House.
Holy. Moly.
With all this talk of architecture on this site, I'm surprised the closest architect Zaha Hadid has reached our radars is metonymic Dongdaemun World Design Park near the Teardrop post. Good thing ArcHiT3cT: series came around. This is an example of Zaha's work. This is her firm's recently-announced Dubai Opera House.
Holy. Moly.
The reason I find this most amazing? Most of the popular buildings being built now, like Burj Dubai, Chicago Spire and almost any Gehry project is that it stands out from its surroundings. See a city of bricks and glass? Throw a building that's all curved metal. Why put up a building when you could put up a building that twists? Of course, HAWT loves those projects, too, but there's something dreamy about Hadid's projects where she embraces the surroundings. Look at this project again.
This looks like a pile of sand dunes to me. It is being built on a new island off the city of Dubai (new islands are so the rage these days). Inside this project, we find a 2,500-seat opera house, an 800-seat playhouse, arts gallery with 54,000 square feet of space (5,000 square meters), performing arts school and a themed hotel. Of course, everything's state of the art, as is the norm in Dubai these days. The island:
Here's the entrance to the opera house.
Holy moly. The interior will be just as amazing.
I can't get over how elegant and appropriate this project is. It's like an eroded mound sticking out of sand dunes. Jaw on floor. Here are some more photos for your digestion. Construction on the island started in 2006, but we'll keep tabs as this project develops and is completed at an un-announced future date.
I want to go see some opera.
That's HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n] and that's the work of an ArcHiT3cT:
This looks like a pile of sand dunes to me. It is being built on a new island off the city of Dubai (new islands are so the rage these days). Inside this project, we find a 2,500-seat opera house, an 800-seat playhouse, arts gallery with 54,000 square feet of space (5,000 square meters), performing arts school and a themed hotel. Of course, everything's state of the art, as is the norm in Dubai these days. The island:Here's the entrance to the opera house.
Holy moly. The interior will be just as amazing.
I can't get over how elegant and appropriate this project is. It's like an eroded mound sticking out of sand dunes. Jaw on floor. Here are some more photos for your digestion. Construction on the island started in 2006, but we'll keep tabs as this project develops and is completed at an un-announced future date.
I want to go see some opera.That's HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n] and that's the work of an ArcHiT3cT:Join the HAWTaction reader group on Facebook.
Pretty!
This looks like my living room, just a bit smaller than mine.
I'm the best blogger, ever.
- JLF