June 16, 2008

Hadid Proposal: REJECTED

Zaha Hadid has proposed a very Zaha Hadid extension to the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College in Oxford. Alas, it is not too be. Designed around a delightfully academic and relatively simple program of reading room, library, storage, and lecture hall, the proposed addition, known as The Softbridge (does that name make anyone else a little uncomfortable?), was found to be “in constant competition with its neighbours.” And it’s not just the exterior that has been found wanting — the committee also questioned the layout of the addition, which placed the library’s archive behind a south-facing glass wall. Ms. Hadid’s buildings tend towards the object-in-the-park, but upon her return to the drawing board, surely she can make an effort to create something that’s more of a response and less of a statement. Click through for more images of what never will be…

[images via The Architect's Journal]

· Zaha’s Oxford college extension branded ‘awkward’ [The Architect's Journal]

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Comments

10 Responses to “Hadid Proposal: REJECTED”

John on June 16th, 2008 3:43 pm

She’s something special, isn’t she?
JC on June 16th, 2008 4:11 pm

what a jerk!
John on June 16th, 2008 8:15 pm

Really?
John on June 16th, 2008 8:22 pm

She “placed the library’s archive behind a south-facing glass wall.” I’m quite disturbed when basic organizational logics are replaced with formalism. Surely that’s a step-backward for the discipline, no?
Sam on June 17th, 2008 2:52 pm

I love how that silly fireplace can’t get in the way of her ‘gesture’
kevic on June 17th, 2008 10:57 pm

That design is so corny.
rodger on June 17th, 2008 11:40 pm

from what i have seen of her recent work, this is a typical zaha hadid solution to a program.
this woman is a menace to the discipline of architecture. too much formal hubris with too little content that makes a difference.
i think the time has come for her to be vilified, discredited and thrown out with the trash.
RalphNg on June 18th, 2008 6:38 am

If you met her and spoke with her at any length, you would probably come away from the encounter as I did, muttering to yourself, “Wow, what an arrogant, self-obsessed, egomaniac! Must have read “The Fountainhead” too many times and taken that trash literally.”

That, or looking this and other of her designs, watched too much Jetsons as a child.

When she was our visiting prof. we called her, “Zahahahahah . . .” behind her (considerable) back.”
Jimmy Stamp on June 18th, 2008 10:49 am

Such animosity towards Zaha.. Surely, she has to have some supporters out there. Hello? Anyone? Oh well. RalphNg - for a minute, I thought you were coming to her defense. It’s good to know she lives up to her reputation, I suppose. (I wonder how many architects have been ruined by The Fountainhead?)

Recently, I was lucky enough to speak with Daniel Libeskind and he really surprised me. He was incredibly kind and clearly passionate about architecture. I dare say inspiring. After our meeting, I left convinced that although his buildings aren’t always..um..good…his intentions truly are and he puts a lot of though into each design.
Jeremy R. Barnes on July 17th, 2008 4:54 am

The stuffy Oxford atmosphere must never be challenged by anything as otherworldly as this.

By God, the Fountainhead was simply a manual on how to attain popularity ;)