Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku has been named Design of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum. Zaha Hadid has become the first woman to win the top prize in the competition, now in its seventh year. Previous winners include the London 2012 Olympic Torch, the Plumen light bulb, and the British government’s Gov.uk website.
Zaha Hadid described Heydar Aliyev Center an “incredible achievement” while project architect Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu said the project expressed the “soft, romantic side” of Azeri culture.
Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Centre is the first architectural design to win the award. “We’re absolutely delighted to receive the Design of the Year Award,” said Hadid. Heydar Aliyev Center was designed as the main venue for exhibitions, concerts and other cultural activities in Azerbaijan’s capital city. Zaha Hadid Architects was appointed as design architects of the Heydar Aliyev Center following a competition in 2007.
“The Heydar Aliyev Center is an important educational and cultural building and we are delighted it has won the Design of the Year award.” Said Zaha Hadid Architects
The overall winner was chosen by a panel of experts from more than 70 nominated designs in the categories of architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, product and transport. Hadid said that she felt the centre was the most important of her recent projects. It beat off competition from an innovative school chair, a revolutionary eye examination app, and a futuristic piano keyboard. “It is an intoxicatingly beautiful building by the most brilliant architect at the height of her office’s powers,” said juror Piers Gough, of CZWG Architects the only member of the six-strong panel to have seen the project in the flesh. “It is as pure and sexy as Marilyn’s blown skirt.”
The 2014 Designs of the Year jury was chaired by writer Ekow Eshun and consisted of architect Piers Gough, industrial designer Kim Colin, journalist Tina Gaudoin and last year’s winner, web designer Ben Terrett. All five are based in London.
Described by the judges as “the pinnacle moment” in Hadid’s portfolio, a piece of architecture that “should make us talk for years to come.All the nominated designs for the Design of the Year Award are on display in an exhibition at London’s Design Museum until 25 August 2014.
View the photo gallery of Heydar Aliyev Center here
Protest over Heydar Aliyev Centre After Winning Design Of The Year Award
Nearly 250 homes were reportedly demolished to make way for the Heydar Aliyev Center and workings conditions during construction were extremely poor.
“The government squeezed people out by cutting off their supply of electricity, gas and water. Sometimes residents would be detained and when they came back, their homes were simply gone. Other buildings were demolished with people still in them,” Giorgi Giorgia of HRW
“Even if these sites are already clear, there are likely to be ongoing claims,” says Hugh Williamson of Human Rights Watch. “All international companies have a responsibility for the local issues of consultation, compensation and the use of force – it is something they must be aware of.”
The Design Museum responded to the backlash in a statement saying. “There always has and probably always will be a huge amount of debate around the ethical implications of large scale architectural projects,” the statement said. “Designs of the Year always provokes a strong reaction, and the conversation around the realities of contemporary architecture is one that the Design Museum wants to be a part of.” “There is no doubt that Zaha Hadid is a hugely talented architect, and this is what the Design of the Year award recognises.”
The building is named after the former ruler of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev, previously a senior figure in the KGB, ruled the country during the Soviet era and became its first president following independence in 1991.
“It’s a prize about architecture rather than politics and its architectural quality is outstanding,” Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic said.
Sudjic’s comments follow a backlash on Twitter and in the international media
Zaha Hadid wins award for supporting forced evictions, illegal demolition and bonded labour- well done @DesignMuseum http://t.co/CiZsAoxtO3
— Olly Wainwright (@ollywainwright) July 1, 2014
some notables who also took to Twitter to denounce the award, including Russell Curtis founding director of rcka architects
It's naive to believe that architecture and politics are mutually exclusive: the two are inextricably linked. http://t.co/n63GnstAtJ
— Russell Curtis (@russellcurtis) July 1, 2014
