the first reason was because someone whom i hold very dearly in my heart celebrates her 16th birthday every year for the past God knows how many years now on that particular date. as far as she is concerned, she's always gonna be 16, and every year on the 18th of March, she simply celebrates the anniversary of her turning 16 .. year after year after year ...
and so dear sis, happy sweet sixteen ... again!
the second reason is the fulfilling of personal aspiration. to those of us who are familiar with the architectural splendors of certain British Iraqi woman, we are all know what an absolute powerhouse Zaha Hadid is, presently in the design universe. we know her designs, are literally, out of this world, in which her works celebrates concepts of movement and fluidity, created around a seemingly alien inspired design vocabulary, creating structures that at once baffle and fascinate our visual senses, resulting inevitably first in awe, then astonishment and finally admiration.
Simply put, this woman's work is WOW.just google her. you'll get the picture soon enough.
one of her simpler projects however ( that is, if there is such a thing as a simple Zaha Hadid project ) was the construction of a unique mobile structure called "The Art Container" .
she was commissioned by Chanel to design an iconic exhibitionist structure that would house some of products that Chanel has produced over the decades that would exhibited at selected venues all over the world. I'm no fashion connoisseur so I can't comment a single thing on that. what caught my eye was the container itself and not such much what was exhibited within. I'm sure that Chanel has produced wonderful pieces of fashion, much admired by all, but my interest was of course strictly architectural in nature. now, the good news was this ... it seems one of the venues this year for this traveling exhibition would be in Hong Kong and the timing for the exhibition coincided somewhat with my sis's birthday, who currently ... get this...lives in Hong Kong!
Perfect. I get to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
So this is what I decided to do. I was gonna go to HK to visit this wonderful piece of work and celebrate her birthday with her husband at one go. I was excited..this was gonna happen! and so I packed up my bags, took my camera and on the 16th of March, 2008, I left for the fragrant harbour in the Far East. I was gonna see Zaha Hadid's work ...in person!
this was really thrilling and I loved the prospect of seeing her work with my own eyes, instead of some picture I would see in a magazine. while spending some time with 2 people I absolutely adore..
oh, what an adrenaline rush
this was going to be.
and so I reached HK, and finally, off I was to see this masterpiece.
and God, I was so glad i came!
it was unbelievable!
there was this gleaming white pavilion in the distance, designed like a coiled snake ready to strike, with a smooth, uninterrupted ceramic surface, enveloped with an interlacing grid of black lines, that housed and exhibited some of the finest things Chanel has produced. the entire pavilion was placed on top of a flat roof, overlooking the glorious oceans from HK itself. it was placed at a location that took full advantage of its site, making sure there was ample space for the crowds to come, whilst enjoying 360 views of HK city, the oceans and of the opposite shoreline, where Kowloon stands. yup, perfect location.
the pavilion itself exemplified and showcased the best of what Zaha Hadid has come to represent.
an experimentation and exploration of forms that are curvilinear and deconstructivist, glorifying notions of fluidity, velocity and movement. her works seeks to challenge our perception of what architecture is, and pushes the boundaries of what is possible way beyond their limits. and she gets bolder and bolder with each passing design.
this art container was no exception to the rule. shaped by a curved axis, but distorted like an elegant ellipse, with a skylight in the middle of the ceiling reminiscent of lotus petals, the entire pavilion looked more like a flying saucer from another galaxy that had landed in the middle of the city, inviting people to come in, through its tantalising and intriguing gleaming ivory facade. people were drawn to this magical egg, and they couldn't help themselves by succumbing to its magnetic appeal.
small no doubt in size and structure, but undeniably colossal in appeal and presence.
once inside, we were given earpieces to get a personal narration of the significance of each exhibit. we walked in, looked around, but I was of course more interested in the pavilion itself. I loved the way the interior walls curved in and out, how they were elongated in certain places and flat in some others, how the entire hall was dark, and only in the heart of the pavilion was the area flooded with sunlight.
spaces were divided in clusters of subtle circles and unique mirror and light features were placed at random spots adding to its incomprehensible design layout. certain areas were elevated and on cantilevered platforms and others followed a spiral axis flat on the floor. it really was as if we were inside an aliens' spacecraft, our minds blown away by the presence of technology light years ahead.
dark and mysterious, intriguing and mystifying.
so we walked around following the natural curve of the exhibition pathway and eventually after it was all seen, we left. the curved spaces within were lit selectively, and nothing about this place was normal. it was as if we had walked through a looking glass, and stepped into another dimension where the accepted rules of construction were tossed aside and where the imagination of the designer was allowed to run wild and free, unconstrained by the laws of gravity or physics. I wasn't allowed to take any photographs inside and so all I have are memories, but thankfully I stayed on taking as many photographs as I can of the exterior, admiring it as much as possible before I leave, realizing of course that once I do, I won't ever have the chance to touch this breathtaking piece of work again.
I was satisfied. Content and calm.
I was happy that I made the decision to come and witness for myself the power of the human mind in designing something that was so exceptionally unconventional and radical, in actual, materialised, tangible form. Leaving a deep impression on me on the power of thinking outside the box to create something spectacular, and an even deeper admiration of this woman's work, I was awestruck as I left the venue. I just hope I'll be fortunate enough again one day to see another of her masterpieces. after all,I was lucky this time, would it be too much to pray for another round of luck again, soon in the future?
Time will tell. I just hope it'll come sooner, rather than later!
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