Five Rare Stage Designs from Zaha Hadid's Archives
A new London exhibition unveils Zaha Hadid's lesser-known work in performance and set design.
1Foundation Reopens in Clerkenwell
The Zaha Hadid Foundation has officially reopened its headquarters at 10 Bowling Green Lane in London. Following a refurbishment by Studio KA, the Victorian schoolhouse now hosts the exhibition titled Zaha Hadid: Architecture of Performance. This event marks the 10th anniversary of the architect's passing and showcases her extensive, previously hidden portfolio.
2Curating the Hidden Archives
Curators Catherine Howe and Libby Sellers organized the exhibition after discovering numerous performance-related projects while unpacking archival boxes. The collection features five standout projects illustrated through models, digital drawings, and costumes. These items provide unique insights into Hadid's evolution of complex geometries and digital techniques applied to dance and opera.
3Mozart at Disney Hall
In 2014, Hadid designed the stage for Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The set featured a spiraling white platform with sections that could rise and fall dynamically. This curvature mirrored her iconic Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, demonstrating her consistent design language across different scales.
4Pop Concert Innovation
For the 1999 Pet Shop Boys’ Nightlife World Tour, Hadid created her first commission for a major pop concert. The design utilized an interconnected, reconfigurable system of ramps adaptable to various venues. By incorporating projection surfaces, she successfully transformed the stage into a multimedia environment, blending architecture with live musical performance.
5Metapolis Ballet Structures
The 1999 Metapolis Ballet project embodied Hadid’s abstract design language through lightweight bridge structures. These elements were moved and reconfigured by dancers throughout the performance. The exhibition displays these digital drawings alongside a costume Hadid designed, highlighting her interdisciplinary approach to movement, space, and the human form in motion.
6Music Video Pavilion Exploration
Developed for a 1990 event in Groningen, the Music Video Pavilion explored translating screen-based media into public space. Hadid utilized a bright color palette and grid-like structures with angular walkways. This project was exhibited alongside works by fellow deconstructivist architects, including Rem Koolhaas and Bernard Tschumi, to analyze architectural viewing experiences.
7Early Performance Experiments
The project d1, dating back to 1989, represents Hadid's first work dedicated to performance. Originally an abstract sketch for a Hamburg project, it became a monochromatic network of lines on a floor for choreographer Rosemary Butcher. Dancers navigated this space as if moving through a complex, abstract cityscape during the performance.
8Future Archival Discoveries
Chairman Rana Hadid noted that the current exhibition is only the beginning for the foundation, which holds approximately 300,000 items. The archive contains diverse materials, including sketchbooks and personal documents, intended to help younger generations study her creative process. The exhibition remains open to the public until March 27, 2027.
Original article: Dezeen — Five Rare Stage Designs from Zaha Hadid's Archives