Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion

17 September '11 - 25 March '12

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will host the first exhibition in the United States to feature Zaha Hadid's product design. Hadid, who in 2004 became the first female recipient of the renowned Pritzker Architecture Prize, has advanced the vocabulary of contemporary architecture and design through the exploration of complex fluid geometries and the use of cutting-edge techniques and manufacturing technologies. For this exhibition the Iraqi-born British architect has created a sculptural environment for a selection of furniture, decorative art, jewelry, and footwear that she has designed in recent years.

The exhibition emphasizes the continuous nature of her work, reinventing the balance between objects and space in an interior landscape. Sleekly curving sofas, tables, and lounge chairs--made of materials ranging from wood, steel, aluminum, and polyurethane--inhabit the gallery, while biomorphic forms represent the new and unusual shapes Hadid has introduced into the language of design. Among the highlights are a collection of Swarovski crystal–encrusted necklaces and bracelets, spiraling, strappy shoes made for Lacoste and Melissa, and the three-wheeled Z-car I, a prototype created of high-density foam that echoes several of her sculptural forms.