"ARUM SHELL" by Zaha Hadid at the Venice Biennale

"Arum Shell" is the name that Zaha Hadid has given to the Architects installation at the Venice Biennale and in which pay homage to the great historical references, including Frei Otto, who is inspired by the central structure, the German architect who led the way in exploring new forms and structures for steel. This installation interprets the theme of "Common Ground" as a reaffirmation of the existence of an architectural culture, made from ideas that form a common history.

Contribution to the Venice Biennale. 2012. "Arum shell" by Zaha Hadid. Pothography © Iwaan Baan

Zaha Hadid Architects is one of the biggest names in the "Common Ground" at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by David Chipperfield. The installation designed by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher "Arum Shell" is made up of lightweight aluminum folding and connects the research process geometries algorithmic study led by his study along his career with the pioneering's work about organic forms like Frei Otto.

“While more evolved our work and design research closer we get to the basic algorithms of creation, more we learn to appreciate the work of pioneers like Otto Frei has made the most elegant designs based on the processes of finding structural form-item ... . since Frei Otto learned how wealth, ecological coherence and fluidity of forms and spaces we desire rationally might arise from a complex balance of forces. "

"Arum Shell" is surrounded by documentation showing the research process and influences, including reference projects, key to the most prominent precursors in this research: Frei Otto, Felix Candela, Heinz Isler and others, and include work of Philippe Block, a young contemporary researcher about the compression stone shells.

This year, the biennial work shows how the protagonists of contemporary architecture, which are often seen as point-creations are based on a common historical heritage. In the case of Zaha Hadid Architects, his initial works were greatly influenced by Russian Suprematism.

"One particular area of research we wanted to explore in this installation is the control of light. Heavy envelopes in combination with rigid structures. For the first time we wanted to integrate these two worlds."

Date: Since August 29 to November 25 to 2012
Place: Venece, Italy.

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ZAHA HADID

Zaha Hadid, (Bagdad, 31 October 1950 – Miami, 31 March 2016) founder of Zaha Hadid Architects, was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture) in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work.

Each of her dynamic and innovative projects builds on over thirty years of revolutionary exploration and research in the interrelated fields of urbanism, architecture and design. Hadid’s interest lies in the rigorous interface between architecture, landscape and geology as her practice integrates natural topography and human-made systems, leading to experimentation with cutting-edge technologies. Such a process often results in unexpected and dynamic architectural forms.

Education: Hadid studied architecture at the Architectural Association from 1972 and was awarded the Diploma Prize in 1977.

Teaching: She became a partner of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, taught at the AA with OMA collaborators Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, and later led her own studio at the AA until 1987. Since then she has held the Kenzo Tange Chair at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; the Sullivan Chair at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture, Chicago; guest professorships at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg; the Knolton School of Architecture, Ohio and the Masters Studio at Columbia University, New York. In addition, she was made Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture and Commander of the British Empire, 2002. She is currently Professor at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria and was the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Awards: Zaha Hadid’s work of the past 30 years was the subject of critically-acclaimed retrospective exhibitions at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 2006, London’s Design Museum in 2007 and the Palazzo della Ragione, Padua, Italy in 2009. Her recently completed projects include the MAXXI Museum in Rome; which won the Stirling award in 2010. Hadid’s outstanding contribution to the architectural profession continues to be acknowledged by the most world’s most respected institutions. She received the prestigious ‘Praemium Imperiale’ from the Japan Art Association in 2009, and in 2010, the Stirling Prize – one of architecture’s highest accolades – from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Other recent awards include UNESCO naming Hadid as an ‘Artist for Peace’ at a ceremony in their Paris headquarters last year. Also in 2010, the Republic of France named Hadid as ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in recognition of her services to architecture, and TIME magazine included her in their 2010 list of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’. This year’s ‘Time 100’ is divided into four categories: Leaders, Thinkers, Artists and Heroes – with Hadid ranking top of the Thinkers category.