Paradoxes in Architecture: The Artistic Expression of Zaha Hadid

By: Arif Javed

Architecture is a constant paradox. It has to be simultaneously concrete and abstract, theoretical and practical, conceptual and physical. To me, Zaha Hadid’s Vitra Campus fire station (and maybe her entire career) is an examination of this constant paradoxical nature of architecture. I think the fire station also is at the crossroads of what classifies as architecture and what classifies as art. Zaha Hadid absolutely refutes the notion of form following function and chooses instead to base her form on the statement or artistic expression that she wanted to present through the architecture.

            The fire station is essentially a manifesto that is articulated through the composition of forms that are derived from highly conceptual and theoretical ideas. This project is a bold manifestation of Zaha Hadid’s personal takes on the nature of architecture and how space should be conceived as well as realized. To me, the project stands out because it almost occupies a space that is somewhere between physical and conceptual. This was an intentional effect of the building, shown by the acute attention to keeping the pureness of the concrete plane unadorned by roof edges or cladding. The glazing even lacks framing, yet another detail that heightens the impression of the building as abstract idea that people can somehow move through than an actual concrete artifact. Even though I do not necessarily find every aspect of the building to be appealing, when I look at it I can clearly see what the architect’s concept was.  It is impossible to look at the building and not see exactly what Hadid had in her mind; her statement that architecture should be a composition of forms dictated by spatial relationships derived from factors such as function, landscape, movement, etc. can be read clearly.

            Hadid’s fire station also explored the relationship of art and architecture, as well as blurred the division line between the two. The project began as a series of abstract paintings by Hadid that were the “conceptual mediator of finding spatial relationships and form (Kroll, 2011).” To me, this means that Zaha Hadid approached the project with an idea of composition that was more artistic in nature than architectural. This shows that Hadid’s conceptions of her forms are completely divorced from what their possible functions would be. The architectural language that Hadid uses comes directly from the paintings. It is thus a language that is derived from the idea that simple, hard edged forms can be composed in such a manner that the space formed with them and around them is complex and expressive. Though as a building the project might not have functioned as a fire station as well as it should have it clearly succeeds in its more grand purpose: being a bold artistic statement of Zaha Hadid’s Deconstructivist ideals.

             All architecture exists in the paradox of what is physically realized and theoretically conceived. Zaha Hadid’s project embraces this idea by truly being the concrete manifestation of abstract theoretical ideas. It rejects the traditional Modernist notions of form and function in favor of a completely personal view of form being generated by an artistic synthesis of philosophy and architecture.

Perspective painting by Hadid, first stage o f design process

Sketch of Hadid's artistic exploration of spatial relationships on the site

Perspective view of the resulting forms and theoretical language

Sources:
Kroll , Andrew. "AD Classics: Vitra Fire Station / Zaha Hadid" 19 Feb 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 24 Nov 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/112681>