Untitled Document
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Zaha Hadid, from Innsbruck to Zaragoza
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Zaha Hadid’s second project in Innsbruck, following the Bergisel Ski Jump (2002), the Nordpark Cable Railway has just received the RIBA Stirling Prize 2008 (European Award). The Zaha Hadid firm has designed four stations on the new line connecting Hungerburg – a mountain village – with central Innsbruck. The main link between each element (platforms, lifts and protective canopies in attractive shapes) can be found in the concrete making up the support platform and the glass roof seen as a landmark showing where the station is. The base can be seen as a moraine formed by the glacier while one can imagine the glass roof as the glacier itself – an inverted monolith formed by the melting ice. This project pushes back the boundaries of technology through its design (complexity) and its construction (glass curved in two planes).
As for the spectacular bridge building in Zaragoza, it provides the city with an emblematic construction and status booster. The hybrid bridge is 280 metres long, with a curve made up of 4 separate bodies – functioning as both structural elements and exhibition space. These ‘pods’ interlace with each other so that the total weight is distributed across the length of the construction. A real technical feat! Zaha Hadid says that this was a key project for his firm. Resting on the two banks of the river and on a small central islet, it is organic in shape, opening and closing, giving a fresh dimension to the landscape of the banks of the Ebro river and a visual connection with the waterway. The International Exhibition has now closed its doors. Awaiting a further cultural event, the building is taking on a new role. It may well become the symbol of Zaragoza. Only time will tell.
www.zaha-hadid.com
1 & 2 : Nordpark Cable Railway, Innsbruck 2007
© Zaha Hadid Architects
3 & 4 : Bâtiment-pont, Zaragoza 2008
© photo Luke Hayes |
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