What Women Make

Hadid’s Mobile Pavilion – Rounded Edges that Chaff

When Zaha Hadid’s Mobile Art Pavilion finally parked after it’s world tour at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, I wasn’t going to miss seeing the thing. After leaving the pavilion, my husband asked, is it legitimate to have an exhibit of an architecture firm put on by said architecture firm? (Is it?) Without being organized by a third party, doesn’t it lack the curatorial perspective that makes it a cultural / art exhibit? It’s really just ‘outdoor’ (outdoor advertising) at that point.

Once inside, the feeling was like embarking on trip to Tomorrowland at Disneyworld, a bit chintzy, and no rollercoasters waiting just a monorail ride away. Intellectually, I was engaged by the explanation of new paradigms for building highrises that change the way forms relate to one another and the urban environment but they were touted as organic. I get it; the sinewy undulating shapes are amoebic, imitative of cellular life – but they definitely do not feel earthy but instead alienating, sinister, even menacing. Not a future I want to cozy up to.

Below are pictures by my photographer husband of the outside structure, then a picture of Ms. Hadid by my photographer friend Michael Sharkey, and then two of my own. What do you think? Are you a fan of Hadid’s vision?