It's Official: Zaha Hadid will design the Iraq Parliament, regardless of the fact she came 3rd in the competition

2014-06-25T17:01:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid has won the scheme to design a new parliament complex in Iraq – despite coming third in the original RIBA-run international competition.

The news is also the first official statement that Assemblage, whose designs won the competition, will not get to realize their vision. This will be the second building Hadid will design in her native country after the 2012 announcement that she will helm the Central Bank of Iraq project.

Hadid's plans for the Iraq Parliament have been marred by controversy, chiefly because they have been kept secret from Iraqi architects and the architectural community at large. Those who have seen the designs have not been favorable in their comments.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Baghdad – probably the most significant architectural project in the city since the 2003 invasion – is under threat from the Isis insurgency surging through the city. The precarious condition of the city makes it hard to imagine that Hadid's ambitious designs will come to fruition anytime soon. More pointedly, it calls into question the need for such expensive architecture in places of near constant social upheaval, partic...

Assemblage wins $1bn Iraqi parliament building comeptition, while organizers continue discussions with 3rd place winner Hadid

2013-01-16T15:24:00-05:00

A London architect firm has been declared the winner of an international competition to design a new $1bn Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad. Assemblage architects was one of 130 firms to put forward a design for the £620million scheme. But while Assemblage received its $250,000 prize in August, the designs have only just been released as the Iraqi Government had remained in talks with a rival, which came third place in the competition, Zaha Hadid Architects, The Guardian has reported.

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It's Official: Zaha Hadid will design the Iraq Parliament, regardless of the fact she came 3rd in the competition

Assemblage wins $1bn Iraqi parliament building comeptition, while organizers continue discussions with 3rd place winner Hadid