MAM Shanghai presents exhibition of Zaha Hadid Architects, a retrospective display of projects dating from 1982 to today

MAM Shanghai

Defined by a timeline of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) formative works in China, ZHA Close Up at MAM Shanghai explores the pioneering research and interconnecting relationships that unite their projects around the globe, detailing the technological innovations that are transforming how the studio imagines, designs and constructs built environments.

Running from 3 July – 29 August 2021, the exhibition examines the evolution of Zaha Hadid Architects’ buildings over the last 40 years—from the flowing urban spaces of the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome (2010) and Leeza SOHO in Beijing (2019) to the studio’s ground-breaking projects currently in development across six continents—demonstrating a consistent desire to innovate and inspire.

ZHA Close Up explores the journey of four decades of experimentation that are inscribed within ZHA’s architecture and has seen their designs become more spatially inventive, more structurally efficient, more technologically advanced and more environmentally sensitive with each new design and positions their work at the forefront of architectural practice.

Showcasing projects that have received highest honours from civic, professional and academic institutions worldwide, ZHA Close Up will present the studio’s pioneering research to improve how the industry designs and constructs:

Sustainability – the application of detailed environmental analysis and geometry optimization techniques to maximize efficient design with less waste and consumption of resources.

Computation & Design – collaboration with the world’s most respected scientific institutions to develop innovations in robotics, artificial intelligence and digital fabrication.

ZH Social – investigation of the social interaction processes to be expected in the designed environments via agent-based simulations with differentiated agent populations and decision processes.

Analytics & Insights – data analytics and human behaviour modelling to design healthy and productive working environments that are tailor-made to overall and individual wellness.

Virtual Reality – demonstrating the remarkable possibilities immersive technologies will offer architects to collaborate and design in augmented reality.

The exhibition will also present Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD), formed in 2006 out of a need to create a separate platform to share Hadid’s distinct dialogue of contemporary design, although the ZHD portfolio encompasses 40 years of research. Today it is defined by Hadid’s inventive methodology and signature design in furniture, lighting and fashion which transcends boundaries and has a global following.

Each piece effortlessly conveys immaculate craftsmanship and Hadid’s virtuosity with fluid geometry. Launched in 2014 under its own label, the ‘ZHD Collection’ further expresses Hadid’s vision in an uncompromising pursuit of excellence and non-conformity to define the acclaimed brand and ensure its timeless and revered presence within the design world.

Shai Baitel, Artistic Director of MAM Shanghai, said: “I am excited to include, as part of our interdisciplinary and immersive approach at MAM, this important exhibition, celebrating Zaha Hadid’s ingenuity. Hadid was an exceptional woman, and we are delighted to show our audience the development of her movement as a researcher, designer, and architect through various geographies and histories—and how this movement impacts the current innovative vision and work of Zaha Hadid Architects”

Patrik Schumacher, Principal, Zaha Hadid Architects, said: “With this show we aim to present who we are close up, our depth of experience, our current preoccupations, and our aspirations for the future.” Source and photos Courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.

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