WOW!!!

Zaha Hadid continues to amaze me with her genius.

Perhaps someday soon she will knock Frank Gehry and Daniel Libeskind off the top of my "Favorite Architects I really wish I was" list.

(btw, when you're done reading about Hadid below, click the Gehry link and read about Atlantic Yards. I fo' shizz want to live there, ASAP!!)

Zaha Hadid Does a Green Roof in Seoul

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06. 2.09

Design & Architecture

Buzz up!

I have sometimes thought that starchitects like Zaha Hadid give not quite as much attention to social or environmental concerns; Cameron Sinclair has used much stronger language. But Hadid has started construction on a 850,000 square foot design museum, library and educational facility in Seoul that appears quite green and social.

Hadid is quoted in archinnovations:

“A fundamental aim of the scheme is to bring delight and inspiration to the people of Seoul by establishing a cultural hub in the centre of one of the busiest and most historic districts of the city” says Zaha Hadid. “The design has been governed by the belief that architecture must enable people to think beyond existing boundaries to reach innovative design solutions. This combined investment in education and research, together with the city’s public cultural programmes will inspire new generations of designers, helping to maintain Korean industry’s reputation as a leader in innovation.”

More from Archinnovations:

The form of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Park revolves around the ancient city wall, which forms the central element of the composition, creating a continuous landscape that physically links the park and plaza together. The fluid language of the design, by inference and analogy, acts as a catalyst by promoting fluid thinking and interaction across all the design disciplines, whilst also encouraging the greatest degree of interaction between the activities of the Plaza and the public.

The integration of green roofs and the surrounding landscape is a new phenomenon that I wrote about before in Are Green Roofs the New Mirrored Glass?- what would these aerial shots look like if their roofs were not green?

Green roofs are wonderful things, and they are introducing a whole new design aesthetic where roof meets grade, and a whole new presentation style where we look down at buildings instead of up. If only we had wings.