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With the first big kick-off for the 2022 FIFA World Cup still more than three years away, the Zaha Hadid/Aecom-designed Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar recently hosted its inaugural soccer match with 40,000 fans and royal family members in attendance. The stadium—not entirely... View full entry
Work is progressing on the late Zaha Hadid-designed Al Wakrah stadium in Qatar, as documented in newly released footage by the organization tasked with the construction of all venues and the necessary infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The 40,000-seat stadium will be one of eight venues... View full entry
In an interview with The Times, Dame Zaha Hadid said that the Qataris “should do something” about the issue of migrant workers. [...]
“I’m not a defender of the Qatari situation, but it’s important to get the facts right and then we can discuss it. I’m very happy that the press make the government aware of problems on certain sites. But it doesn’t apply to this site.”
— designmena.com
To read the full (paywalled) The Times interview with Dame Hadid, click here. Previously in the Archinect news: "7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup," new ITUC report findsZaha Hadid defends Qatar World Cup role following migrant worker... View full entry
The Qatar World Cup Memorial project is a scalable building that raises awareness about the number of workers who died during the construction of the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It is in the form of a tower made of concrete modules, each one representing a deceased worker. The higher the number, the higher the tower...If the death rate is not reduced, the Qatar World Cup Memorial could reach a height of 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile). — 1week1project.org
1W1P – 1Week1Project – is a collaborative effort by French architects Axel de Stampa and Sylvain Macaux, graduates of l'Ecole d'Architecture in Paris-Belleville. They challenged themselves to produce a "spontaneous architecture" per week for a year, or fifty-two projects. At this point, they... View full entry
Migrant workers building the first stadium for Qatar's 2022 World Cup have been earning as little as 45p [≈75¢] an hour, the Guardian can reveal [...] More than 100 workers from some of the world's poorest countries are labouring in ferocious desert heat on the 40,000-seat al-Wakrah stadium, which has been designed by the British architect Zaha Hadid [..] — The Guardian
This is just the most recent in a slew of bad PR for the British-Iraqi architect. Earlier, she was rebuked for asserting that architects have neither power over nor responsibility for the conditions of workers on their buildings. She won the 2014 Design Museum award for a building in Azerbaijan... View full entry
"I have nothing to do with the workers," said Hadid. "I think that's an issue the government – if there's a problem – should pick up. Hopefully, these things will be resolved."
Asked if she was concerned, Hadid added: "Yes, but I'm more concerned about the deaths in Iraq as well, so what do I do about that? I'm not taking it lightly but I think it's for the government to look to take care of. It's not my duty as an architect to look at it.
— theguardian.com
Zaha Hadid, the world’s best-known female architect, is none too pleased with critics like Jon Stewart, who have mocked her Al Wakrah Stadium—designed with AECOM for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar—and likened her to the “Georgia O’Keeffe of things you can walk inside.”
“It’s really embarrassing that they come up with nonsense like this,” Hadid tells TIME exclusively. “What are they saying? Everything with a hole in it is a vagina? That’s ridiculous.”
— newsfeed.time.com
Previously: Unnecessary Muffness; Jon Stewart discusses Zaha's "f**kable buildings" View full entry
"designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid whose signature style appears to be making some of the world's most f**kable buildings...like Georgia O'Keeffe of things you can walk inside...i guess maybe it is time things evened out a bit" - Jon Stewart — Daily Show
Last night on The Daily Show, they offered a critique of Qatar's recently released plans for the Al Wakrah 2022 FIFA World Cup Stadium, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The show goes on to label the proposal one of the world's most f**kable soccer stadiums. Also while reporting in, on... View full entry
