|
The exhibition Zaha Hadid. Works and Projects will
open on May 10 in the temporary spaces of the National
Centre for Contemporary Arts, currently comprising two
gallery spaces and covering 1000 square meters.
Hadid won the international competition for her plan
for the new Centre, located in the former Montello barracks
on Via Guido Reni, in the Flaminio neighborhood in Rome.
The exhibition, designed by Hadid herself, is organized
by the Directorate for Contemporary Architecture and
Art (DARC) of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and by
the National Centre for Contemporary Arts.
"The exhibition offers a complete portrait of
this very complex and accomplished architect,"
explains Pio Baldi, the General Director of DARC. "Hadid
came to architecture after studying pure mathematics
in Beirut, and after attending the prestigious Architectural
Asssociation in London. This installation pays homage
to Hadid's creative genius and furthermore launches
the exhibition schedule of the Centre, which will continue
during the construction of the new buildings.
Our aim is to acquaint the public with the architecture
of Hadid, whose project for the Centre (26,000 sq.mt.)
redesigns and rehabilitates a neighborhood of the city,
restoring life and energy to the area. We would like
to familiarize the public with this fluid, dynamic,
asymmetric architecture of converging and diverging
planes, segmented and oblique lines, acute angles, curves
and spirals. Hers is a clearly novel way of conceiving
and articulating space."
THE INSTALLATION
The installation of the exhibition, designed by Zaha
Hadid, is an integral part of the show. The fluid space
is interrupted by large asymmetric curved panels which
rise from the floor or descend from the ceiling, overlap,
diverge, cross each other, and articulate a labyrinthine
space. Within this layout the spectator will admire
drawings, paintings, scale models of architectural projects,
videos, books, areas for multimedia displays, costumes
for theatre, objects and furniture.
THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition includes thirteen architectural projects,
complete with preliminary sketches, drawings, paintings,
computer renderings and models. Each project offers
a different plan and solution to Hadid's conception
of public spaces as areas for gathering, social exchanges,
and human contact. Hadid stated in an interview: "I
give life to a space in many different ways, offering
to the public a place for leisure and pleasure, for
comfort and well-being, feelings usually experienced
in a landscape setting. The idea is to provide public
spaces potentially able to give pleasure."
These concerns are found also in her architectural
projects for cultural buildings (such as the National
Centre for Contemporary Arts in Rome; the Rosenthal
Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio; the
Grande Bibliothèque du Québec, in Montréal,
Canada; the Temporary Guggenheim Museum in Tokyo, Hadid's
most recent project), as well as in her urban interventions
(the new Ferry Terminal in Salerno), and in her more
unusual projects (such as the Bergisel ski jump (Innsbruck)
or the Mind Zone of the Millennium Dome in London).
In addition, the exhibition in Rome will include objects
of design, such as tea and coffee sets, furniture, featuring
her Stalactite and Stalagmite tables and her Glacier
and Moraine couches. Furthermore, in 1999 Hadid designed
both the costumes and the stage sets for the ballet
Metapolis, choreographed by Frédric Flamand,
and on view in this exhibition. Finally, a section dedicated
to the world of Zaha will display books, films, and
other objects. As a whole, the show allows us to meet
and understand an artist and her work thorough a survey
of her interests and influences.
The Centre will complete its exhibition schedule for
May with two additional shows. Haluk Akakce, a young
artist born in Ankara, Turkey, and resident in New York,
whose work was included at the VI Biennial in Istanbul
in 1999 and at the XXV Biennial in Sao Paulo, Brasil,
and Patrick Tuttofuoco, a young artist residing in Milan
who participated recently in an exhibition at the Museum
of Contemporary Art in Gand, Belgium, will be represented
by their video work. The common theme between these
artists is their concern for architecture, technology
and the virtual world, thus providing a sounding board
and a foil to the work of Zaha Hadid.
The exhibition will run from May 10 to August 11, 2002,
at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Via Guido
Reni 8/10. Hours: 11:00 - 19:00; closed Mondays; no
admission fee.
List of works in the exhibition
- Rome (Italy), National Centre for Contemporary Arts
(1998-2005)
- Cincinnati (Ohio, USA), Rosenthal Center for Contemporary
Art (1997-2003)
- Wolfsburg (Germany), Science Centre (1999 2003)
- Salerno (Italy), Ferry Terminal (2000-2003)
- Bergisel Ski Jump (Innsbruck) Austria(1999-2002)
- London (Great Britain), Mind Zone, Millennium Dome
(1998-2000)
- Weil Am Rhein (Germany), Landesgartenschau (LF One):
pavillion for garden fair (1997-1999)
- Montréal (Canada), Grande Bibliothèque
du Québec (2000 -)
- Strasburg (France), Terminal Multimodale de Hoenheim-Nord
(1998-2001)
- Weil Am Rhein (Germany), Vitra Fire Station (1991-1993)
- Tokyo (Japan),Temporary Guggenheim Museum (2001-)
- Dusseldorf (Germany), Kunst Media Centre (1989-1993,
project)
- Leipzig (Germany),BMW Central Plant Building (2002-2004)
- Furniture, tea and coffee sets, costumes for Metopolis
ballet (1999)
Rome, 10 May 2002
Press Office
Ministry of Cultural Affairs 06.67.23.261
DARC Beatrice Fabbretti 06.320.20.07 - 335.64.19.189
- beafabbretti@hotmail.com
EPR Communication Rita Cristofari 06.68.16.21 - 339.39.13.840
- cristofari@eprcomunicazione.it
MN Communication Laura Falcinelli 06.85.37.63.69 - 348.28.14.527
- falcinelli@mnitalia.com
|
