Zumthor vs Hadid

Zumthor and Hadid are (were) without a doubt among the best architects of today. They also represent two sides of a spectrum.

Hadid’s cultural center in Azerbaijan

Hadid: Artistic, peak expression of human capability and imagination, lightness, outwardness, sky.

Zumthor’s Serpentine Pavilion

Zumthor: Naturalistic, acknowledging and catering to the needs of the human soul, heaviness, inwardness, earth.

The rest of architecture seems to float somewhere in between.

Hadid’s principles have found to match wonderfully with the ambitions of those assigning the creation of grand office buildings and housing projects.

Zumthor’s principles seem to lend themselves more for spas and sanctuaries.

I’d love to see Zumthor’s principles being applied to office buildings and housing projects. It’s hard to imagine what those would look like… but they would surely be very nurturing places to live and work in.

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