Case Study: Body Analysis

November

2

2010Art Performing Center. Zaha Hadid. Abu Dhabi. 2007

The diagrams above show the bodily analogy of Performing Art Center. It seems that the

building establish its own body while resembling human body organs. In addition the

activities and functions inside this body call what’s inside the human body.

Pedestrian pathway (entrance of Performing Art Center): original

point of people flow, movement and activity

In this stage of

this project

I’m going to investigate body analysis of Abu Dhabi’s Performing

Art Centre in three phases. First, I will demonstrate how the design

and architecture of this center is similar to human body and its

organs. Second, I will look at how an occupant or one’s body

experiences the building and space and how Zaha Hadid’s

approaches deal with this issue. Finally, I will examine the theory of

feminism and how the architect’s gender affects the design.

The design concept for Performing Art Center in Abu Dhabi

perceives as a sculptural architecture that emerges from the context

of pedestrian paths and gradually developing into a growing

organism that produce a network of successive branches. As it goes

through the site, the architecture builds up height and depth and

achieving multiple summits in the bodies. In this case, this organic

analogy is more than a mere analogy: through figural expression and

through embodied geometries, building is, in a real sense, body and

abstract, therefore, “the building is in its entirety like a body

composed of its parts!i This idea holds true in Performing Art Center

as it represents both a body containing different parts which are

working together and also it acts as a part for the whole body of the

Cultural District, interacting with its environment and other

Blood flow through the body Patterns on the surface of the building/ Branching Network resembling vessels network in body

Heart: Original point of blood flow in body

The below diagrams show the interior of the Performing Art Center and how the inside

of the building demonstrates alive tissues of the body as well as outside and how people

movement is developing in the space.

buildings! In

terms of

considering Performing Art Center as body, branching network of

the building can be literally seen as the projection of the vessels

network in human’s body. In this way, the effectiveness of

branching network on the surface (skin) might be perceived as

vessels spread out inside the whole body and as they carry food and

nutrients they set an effective network between different organs in

body. In addition, this texture reminds alive tissues of body such as

heart veins or lungs and larynx tissues, however, the fact that the

building emerges from the pedestrian paths and gradually

developing in growing organism, again, resembles heart action and

connection in human body. This similarity, not only appears in the

exterior and skin of the building, but in functions and applications.

To clarify, the main arteries in body start and lead to the heart and

blood flow originates from and ends in heart, in the same way,

people movement and flow starts from the entrance of the building

and then spreads out in the whole body of Performing Art Center.

This analogy can be generalized into the context as well. While the

building has its own identity, interacts and connects with other

cultural buildings and the whole district too. In fact, the building

acts as an organ for the whole body of Cultural District!

Next, I will

examine how

the people movement, flow and function occur and how a person’s

body would experience and perceive the building. This concept

regards to the perception of the building through the perception of

space.ii Zaha hadid tries to create successful relation between

interior and exterior and through this strategy, one would make his

implication of the building. Her design with fluid lines that

transcend and meander through spaces and effective openings and

voids, deals with her methodology of well-being as well as pleasure!

Moving through the building, ends up with perceiving it as a

consequence of various spaces which unites interior and links it to

the exterior and finally contributes to one unique body.iii

The integration and continuity of different spaces inside the building

result in considering co-ordination of various parts of the whole

body of the building rather than just their functions.iv

The most privileged and effective example is the concert hall which

is building’s summit and a huge window behind the stage will look

out to the sea, allowing daylight into its interior with dramatic views

of city skyline. Local lobbies for each theatre are orientated towards

the sea to give each visitor a constant visual contact with their

surroundings.

Integrated spaces which are connected not only physically, but more importantly

visually. Different spaces (organs) are open to each other and organized in

variation of layers. This approach of interaction between spaces results in

perceiving Performing Art Center design as a unique, however contains different

layer. Body movements which start from pedestrian pathway, which pulls and

invites people toward itself, continue in different levels of the building. One would

say that s/he has a feeling of magnificent while experiencing the building!

Looking at the smoothness of

both interior and exterior, one

would say the building is given

shape and substance, during its

process of growing and

nourishment, by a woman.v The

lines and the floating areas,

reminds the analogy of female’s body and mind! In other word, the

female body is projected, represented and inscribed in the design of

the building. This consideration results in an architecture in which

female body is not suppressed or excluded.vi However, that doesn’t

mean this style couldn’t be created by a man.

To conclude, I believe the design for Performing Art Center

demonstrates how Zaha Hadid, as the only woman who got Pritzker

Prize, accomplishes what she is looking for. She, besides four other

men, was selected for this design and her design shows how Hadid

is spoken through her architectural language.vii

Notes

i Anthony Vidler, “The Building in Pain: The Body and Architecture in Post-Modern Culture,” in AA Files 19, Architectural Association, ISSN 0261 6823 (112 pages), 4ii M. Merleau-Ponty, “The Synthesis of One’s Own Body”, in Phenomenology of Perception, 1962, 148iii M. Merleau-Ponty, “The Synthesis of One’s Own Body”, in Phenomenology of Perception, 1962, 150iv M. Merleau-Ponty, “The Synthesis of One’s Own Body”, in Phenomenology of Perception, 1962, 149v Diana I. Agrest, “Architecture from Without: Body, Logic, and Sex”, in Architecture from Without, 1993, 180vi Diana I. Agrest, “Architecture from Without: Body, Logic, and Sex”, in Architecture from Without, 1993, 184vii Diana I. Agrest, “Architecture from Without: Body, Logic, and Sex”, in Architecture from Without, 1993, 193