Abstract Fragments: The Transgression of Language in the Representational Logics of Zaha Hadid

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to examine the representational processes developed by Zaha Hadid through the drawings for The Peak Leisure Club (1982-1983), a project that was never built yet is widely regarded as the primary expression of her theoretical thinking. Winner of an international competition organised by the city of Hong Kong, the project distinguished itself through its innovative character, which broke with established conventions and was entirely different from the other competitors. The compositional logics adopted by Hadid, whose complexity resides in the experimentation with unconventional Euclidean forms, could only be conveyed through an equally complex representational language. Rather than illustrating the project in a simple and direct manner, Hadid composes drawings of powerful visual impact, thereby creating a narrative space rather than an architectural or landscape-focused one. These representations elucidate the essential characteristics of her work: firstly, the Arab influence, with art generated through geometric abstraction; secondly, the use of research conducted by the artistic avant-gardes of the early 20th century, adopted by Zaha Hadid as a graphic and theoretical foundation for the development of new mechanisms of abstraction and fragmentation. Her rejection of conventional representational methodologies is expressed in a genuine communicative strategy, manifested through fragments, cinematic distortions, and optical illusions. By disregarding Euclidean spatial-temporal coordinates, the architect effectively bypasses the constraints imposed by the two-dimensional plane and explores a realm unconstrained by traditional design parameters. In conclusion, the critical and graphic analysis conducted on the drawings for The Peak Leisure Club clarifies the three-dimensional genesis of Zaha Hadid’s modus operandi and, consequently, the indissoluble connection between her architectural drawings and the buildings constructed in subsequent years.