Zaha Hadid’s techniques of architectural form-making

Abstract

The dramatic changes in today's architecture are inevitable consequences of the sweeping technological advances of the 21st century. Zaha Hadid is one of the prominent architects who have contributed on conceiving unprecedented, innovative architecture. Generations eager for creativity from among architectural students, architects and products? designers who admire her designs find it difficult to determine the underlying reason for the uniqueness of her works. Although, there is a notable interest in different media for her works, there is no equivalent reaction in the academic field on the systematic analysis for her techniques in designing architectural form. Therefore, this study?s aims are to find out these techniques and to investigate the underlying cause for her works distinctiveness from her other colleagues in architecture. A content analysis is conducted on Hadid?s words in texts and videos of her accessible interviews in internet, books and magazine to accomplish study?s aims as well as to find out how these techniques were applied in regard to the general conception of her projects. The study resulted in exposing the six techniques she uses to design the architectural form which are abstraction and fragmentation; idea of the ground and gravity; landscaping project and the surrounding context; Layering; play of light; seamlessness and fluidity. Moreover, the authors refer her works' uniqueness to employing contradiction principle through these techniques.