Where is Zaha Hadid?

1) Who are you?

Zaha Hadid. I was born in Baghdad in 1950. After studying
mathematics in Beirut I went to London to study architecture at the
Architectural Association. I now live in London but I don’t really have
a particular home. I think, you either re-invent yourself or you invent
your world. This is part of a liberation from certain rules – as it is
in my situation.

(2) Why are you making art?

Painting formed a critical part of my early career. I had always
felt limited by the lack of innovation in the traditional system of
drawing in architecture and was searching for new means of
representation. It was a design tool that allowed us the intense
experimentation with both form and movement. This led to a radical
approach in developing a new language for architecture. But of course
painting affected the work, it became much more malleable. The dynamic
fluidity of motion can increasingly be manifested with the advances of
the digital imaging software and construction techniques which
allowed for the translation of the experimentation with painting into a
digital field. However, painting has remained integral to our process.

(3) What does your art refer to?

To my architecture.  My own architectural language developed
through translating the warped and anti-gravitational space of Russian
Avant-garde painting and sculpture.  I was inspired by the paintings of
Malevitch and Moholy-Nagy, El Lissitzky’s Prouns and Naum Gabo’s sculptures.

(4) Who needs your art?

Art and architecture are created for its users. After all, they are
about the creation of pleasant and stimulating settings in all aspects
of life. Contemporary society is not standing still – and art and
architecture must both evolve with its life patterns. I think, what is
new to our generation is a new level of social complexity – which is
reflected in art, architecture and fashion. There are no simple
formulae anymore.  Through our architecture, we can give people a
glimpse of another world, inspire them and make them excited about
ideas.