Une Architecture at the Mobile Art Pavilion by Zaha Hadid5 May 2011

An exhibition of work by London architect Zaha Hadid has opened inside her MobileArt Pavilion (see our earlier story), which has found its permanent home in Parishaving toured New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong since 2008.

The pavilion will remain outside the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and theinaugural exhibition in this location opened at the end of April.

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The exhibition, called Une Architecture, includes architectural models, paintings andprojections of work produced by Zaha Hadid Architects in recent years.

The exhibition continues until 30 October 2011.

More projects by Zaha Hadid Architects on Dezeen »

The following information is from the architects:

Zaha Hadid une architecture

April 29 – October 30

On 28 April, the exhibition designed by Zaha Hadid inaugurates The Mobile ArtPavilion, a new arts venue installed in front of the Institut du Monde Arabe.

Created by Iraqi born British architect Zaha Hadid for CHANEL in 2007 andcommissioned by Karl Lagerfeld, the Mobile Art Pavilion’s opening exhibitionshowcases a selection of work by the 2004 Pritzker Prize laureate Zaha Hadid,designer of some of the world’s most highly acclaimed projects.

A genuine immersion into the architect’s formal and conceptual repertoire, thisexhibition of Hadid’s work is presented within its own architecture.

Translating the intellectual and physical into the sensual and using a wide range ofmedia, the Mobile Art Pavilion unfolds through spatial sequences which engage thevisitor in unique and unexpected environments.

The Mobile Art Pavilion, donated by CHANEL to the Institut du monde arabe, willallow the institute to further develop its cultural programmes in the field ofcontemporary creation.

Mobile Art Pavillon: Historic

“Zaha Hadid” will be the first exhibition held inside the Mobile Art Pavilion since theinstallation of the pavilion in front of the Institut du monde arabe. CHANEL donatedthe pavilion to the Institut du monde arabe at the beginning of 2011.

It had previously travelled to Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York since 2007. It will nowhave a permanent location at the IMA, where it will be used to host exhibitions in linewith the centre’s policy of showcasing talent from Arab countries.

Zaha Hadid: About Mobile Art

“I think through our architecture, we can give people a glimpse of another world, andenthuse them, make them excited about ideas. Our architecture is intuitive, radical,international and dynamic. We are concerned with constructing buildings that evokeoriginal experiences, a kind of strangeness and newness that is comparable to theexperience of going to a new country. The Mobile Art Pavilion follows these principlesof inspiration.” states Zaha Hadid.

Arousing one’s curiosity is a constant theme in the work of Zaha Hadid. The MobileArt Pavilion is a step in the evolution of Hadid’s architectural language that generatesa sculptural sensuality with a coherent formal logic. This new architecture flourishesvia the new digital modelling tools that augment the design process with techniques ofcontinuous fluidity.

Zaha Hadid explains this process, “The complexity and technological advances indigital imaging software and construction techniques have made the architecture of theMobile Art Pavilion possible. It is an architectural language of fluidity and nature,driven by new digital design and manufacturing processes which have enabled us tocreate the Pavilion’s totally organic forms – instead of the serial order of repetitionthat marks the architecture of the industrial 20th Century.

Design of Mobile Art

The Mobile Art Pavilion which has been conceived through a system of naturalorganisation, is also shaped by the functional considerations of the exhibition.

However, these further determinations remain secondary and precariously dependenton the overriding formal language of the Pavilion. An enigmatic strangeness hasevolved between the Pavilion’s organic system of logic and these functionaladaptations – arousing the visitor’s curiosity even further.

In creating the Mobile Art Pavilion, Zaha Hadid has developed the fluid geometries ofnatural systems into a continuum of fluent and dynamic space – where oppositionsbetween exterior and interior, light and dark, natural and artificial landscapes aresynthesised. Lines of energy converge within the Pavilion, constantly redefining thequality of each exhibition space whilst guiding movement through the exhibition.

Content

The exhibition thematically explores a series of research agendas conducted by ZahaHadid Architects in recent years. Different media is used to show the work;architectural models, silver paintings and projections. A variety of projects from allover the world will be shown, these will include: the Soho Central Business District inBeijing, the Spiralling Tower for the University Campus in Barcelona, the Guggenheimproject in Singapore, the recently completed CGMCMA Tower in Marseille and thePierres Vives building of the department de l’Herault in Montpellier, currently inconstruction.

The exhibition will also showcase architectural projects from the Arab world such asthe Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre in the United Arab Emirates, the Nile Tower inCairo Egypt, the Signature Towers in Dubai and the Rabat Tower inMorocco. Furthermore the exhibition showcases Zaha Hadid Architects’ designresearch within the parametric paradigm. The parametric towers research projectaims to develop a conceptual framework for the design of a prototype tower to be usedas the basis for a set of parametric tools that can be applied to a multitude of differentspecific conditions.

Individual elements such as massing, skin, core, void, and structure are modulatedindividually and in concert. The final result is a fully malleable system that can

differentiate families and fields of towers in response to user input or environmentalconsiderations. Applications of the research into architectural practice are exemplifiedvia a series of Tower competition entries on large urban scales.

The visitor is invited to experience the work of Zaha Hadid Architects on threedifferent levels, by discovering the Mobile Art pavilion (building), viewing theexhibition design (scenography) and seeing the work of the practice (exhibits).