Digital Hadid - Landscapes in Motion
By Patrik Schumacher

Zaha Hadid has been a persistent radical in the field of architectural experimentation for the last 20 years.  The importance of her contribution to the culture of architecture lies primarily in a series of momentous expansions - as influential as they are radical - in the repertoire of spacial articulation available to architects today./Patrik Schumacher

Hong Kong "The Peak", 1982

Al Whada Stadium, Abu Dhabi, 1988

The book describes the transition from drawing to computing in the work of Zaha Hadid. The hallmark of Zaha Hadid's early work was the innovation and expansion of graphic media to be utilized as new design techniques. On this basis a new architectural language and conception of space was developed.  

MAXXI, Rome

Z-scaper, Lounging Furniture

Fine Arts Center, University of Connecticut

The analog techniques employed - like interpenetration, isometric and perspectival distortion, dynamic bending and warping - anticipate the possibilities currently offered by advanced animation software.  Intermediate techniques like distortion and "smearing" using the xerox machine established a fertile ground for the quick assimilation of the new digital tools in the process of form finding.  

The book elaborates on a series of recent projects where various digital techniques have become an essential ingredients of the project development.

BMW Plantt-Central Building, Leipzig 
High Speed Station, Naples

Guggenheim Museum, Taichung

Zaha Hadid is the 2004 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Patrik Schumacher is director and project partner at Zaha Hadid Architects and co-director of the master degree program "Design Research Laboratory" at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

The book is part of a series by Antonino Saggio, "The Information Technology Revolution in Architecture", reflecting on the effects the virtual dimension is having on architects and architecture in general. Each volume will examine a single topic, highlighting the essential aspects and exploring their relevance for the architects of today.