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Harrods launches Zaha Hadid's luxury homeware line Harrods launches Zaha Hadid's luxury homeware line
(35 minutes later)
Veins bulge from a wasp-waisted candle holder, while sinuous flow-lines run down the side of a teacup, splitting to merge seamlessly with the faceted saucer beneath. It looks like a colony of mutant lifeforms has scuttled into Harrods’ interiors department, which can only mean one thing: Zaha Hadid has taken on homewares.Veins bulge from a wasp-waisted candle holder, while sinuous flow-lines run down the side of a teacup, splitting to merge seamlessly with the faceted saucer beneath. It looks like a colony of mutant lifeforms has scuttled into Harrods’ interiors department, which can only mean one thing: Zaha Hadid has taken on homewares.
At the age of 63, the Iraqi-born architect has won every prize going, graced international power lists and erected buildings across the globe – and now she’s making a bid for your dining table. Her collaborations beyond architecture have already stretched to extreme jewellery and improbable footwear, with knuckle-duster rings and a pair of shoes that look like metallic whirlwinds swirling around your ankles. She has designed a handbag for Fendi, vases for Lalique, and a perfume bottle for Donna Karan, as well as the obligatory luxury yacht – and even a raunchy range of swimwear, leading to rumours that she is starting her own fashion label (a suggestion hotly denied by her team). From Lacoste to Louis Vuitton, Alessi to Pharrell, everyone wants a piece of brand Zaha. But now she’s cutting out the middle-man and doing it for herself.At the age of 63, the Iraqi-born architect has won every prize going, graced international power lists and erected buildings across the globe – and now she’s making a bid for your dining table. Her collaborations beyond architecture have already stretched to extreme jewellery and improbable footwear, with knuckle-duster rings and a pair of shoes that look like metallic whirlwinds swirling around your ankles. She has designed a handbag for Fendi, vases for Lalique, and a perfume bottle for Donna Karan, as well as the obligatory luxury yacht – and even a raunchy range of swimwear, leading to rumours that she is starting her own fashion label (a suggestion hotly denied by her team). From Lacoste to Louis Vuitton, Alessi to Pharrell, everyone wants a piece of brand Zaha. But now she’s cutting out the middle-man and doing it for herself.
“We’ve done many different collaborations in the past,” says Christian Gibbon, general manager of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). “But this is our own debut lifestyle collection. We’re aiming for affordable pieces that can be bought on the high street, but which are also aspirational.” Ranging from bone china cups (starting at £38) to limited-edition serving platters (yours for £9,999), the definition of affordable might be stretching it, but it’s no doubt nothing out of the reach of regular Harrods shoppers – where the “capsule collection” is on exclusive sale for the first month of its launch.“We’ve done many different collaborations in the past,” says Christian Gibbon, general manager of Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). “But this is our own debut lifestyle collection. We’re aiming for affordable pieces that can be bought on the high street, but which are also aspirational.” Ranging from bone china cups (starting at £38) to limited-edition serving platters (yours for £9,999), the definition of affordable might be stretching it, but it’s no doubt nothing out of the reach of regular Harrods shoppers – where the “capsule collection” is on exclusive sale for the first month of its launch.
The work of Zaha Hadid Design, one of seven companies registered under her name, and the branch of the office that handles interiors, products and exhibition design, the objects are the result of the practice’s ongoing pursuit of fluid geometries and experimental organic structures. But in some ways it represents Hadid coming full circle. Like many young architects, she started out designing interiors in the 1980s, making side tables and sofas saturated with a Russian constructivist air, way before she began building. This new collection shows a much more supple language, Malevich shards exchanged for an aesthetic of her own making. The work of Zaha Hadid Design, one of seven companies registered in her name, and the branch of the office that handles interiors, products and exhibition design, the objects are the result of the practice’s ongoing pursuit of fluid geometries and experimental organic structures. But in some ways it represents Hadid coming full circle. Like many young architects, she started out designing interiors in the 1980s, making side tables and sofas saturated with a Russian constructivist air, way before she began building. Following the trajectory of her architecture, this new collection is imbued with an interest in a much more supple language, Malevich shards exchanged for a voluptuous aesthetic of her own making.
Although Gibbon insists that “they are not miniature buildings,” the pieces nonetheless bear a definite family resemblance to recent projects, and many have been drawn from structures developed by the architect’s in-house “code group”, a kind of laboratory for producing alien forms.Although Gibbon insists that “they are not miniature buildings,” the pieces nonetheless bear a definite family resemblance to recent projects, and many have been drawn from structures developed by the architect’s in-house “code group”, a kind of laboratory for producing alien forms.
The Aqua platter – four teardrop swooshes that resemble the fanned petals of a bird of paradise flower – is based on a distorted version of London’s Olympic Aquatics Centre, each tray flexing in a taut arc before coming to rest on three points, just like the building. CNC-milled from blocks of transparent acrylic, and hand-finished in Italy, they have an alluring jewel-like quality – which sadly evaporates when you touch them. Expecting the expensive ring of cut glass, you instead find the cheap rattle of a plastic picnic tray, which belies the £10,000 price tag. Those on tighter budgets can make do with the Aqua acrylic placemat – a snip at £76. The Aqua platter – four teardrop swooshes that resemble the fanned petals of a bird of paradise flower – is based on a distorted version of London’s Olympic Aquatics Centre, each tray flexing in a taut arc before coming to rest on three points, just like the building. CNC-milled from blocks of transparent acrylic, and hand-finished in Italy, they have an alluring jewel-like quality – which sadly evaporates when you touch them. Expecting the expensive ring of cast glass, you instead find the cheap rattle of a plastic picnic tray, which belies the £10,000 price tag. Those on tighter budgets can make do with the Aqua acrylic placemat – a snip at £76.
Across the collection, the ghosts of Hadid’s buildings begin to emerge. The closer you look, the more they seem like early embryonic forms of her buildings, plucked from the womb before they have matured into fully fledged pieces of architecture, still slippery and gelatinous. It is as if, by some quirk of natural selection, the siblings were separated before birth – one went on to become an Olympic swimming pool, the other was destined to hold nuts and olives. One will soon be a skyscraper in Asia, while its stunted sibling will hold your scented candle in the downstairs loo. Across the collection, the ghosts of Hadid’s buildings begin to emerge. The closer you look, the more they start to form particular families, a mutant genealogy of creatures at different stages of evolution. They are like early embryonic forms of her buildings, plucked from the parametric womb before they have matured into fully fledged pieces of architecture, still slippery and gelatinous. It is as if, by some quirk of natural selection, the siblings were separated before birth – one went on to become an Olympic swimming pool, the other was destined to hold nuts and olives. One will soon be a skyscraper in Asia, while its stunted sibling will hold your scented candle in the downstairs loo.
Geometric experiments for towers in Brisbane and Beijing have proved particularly fruitful, providing the basis for cups, saucers and flasks, as well as a gleaming resin chess set. For £4,860, you can do battle with your very own armies of Zaha Hadid skyscrapers, the double rows of twisting totems facing off across the board, like the skyline of Shanghai squaring up to Dubai. Geometric experiments for towers in Brisbane and Beijing have proved particularly fruitful as a source of inspiration, providing the basis for cups, saucers and flasks, as well as a gleaming resin chess set. For £4,860, you can do battle with your very own armies of Zaha Hadid skyscrapers, the double rows of twisting totems facing off across the board, like the skyline of Shanghai squaring up to Dubai.
There is a range of scented candles (a personal Zaha favourite) housed in blocky ceramic holders, modelled on the base of a tower proposed for Miami. When scaled down to tabletop size, the form recalls the entwined tendrils of art nouveau styling, with a slightly sinister sci-fi air – Victor Horta meets HR Giger on a dark night. Available in white (the fresh and lemony “oriental”) or black (the dark and musky “opulent”), they range from £99 to £252. Hadid already has several, and it turns out they provide a useful indicator to her employees. “Zaha loves scented candles,” says one designer. “If you smell a candle in the office, you know she’s coming.” There is a range of scented candles (a personal Zaha favourite) housed in blocky ceramic holders, modelled on the base of a tower proposed for Miami. As if squeezed into a futuristic corset, the building will braced by a concrete exoskeleton of bifurcating flow lines. When scaled down to tabletop size, the form recalls the entwined tendrils of art nouveau styling, with a slightly sinister sci-fi air – Victor Horta meets HR Giger on a dark night. Available in white (the fresh and lemony “oriental”) or black (the dark and musky “opulent”), they range from £99 to £252. Hadid already has several, and it turns out they provide a useful indicator to her employees. “Zaha loves scented candles,” says one designer. “If you smell a candle in the office, you know she’s coming.”
For a practice whose work is so focused on the production of novel forms, it appears that the product-development line provides a useful scale of experimentation, before multi-millions are invested in buildings. “Architecture takes years and years to produce, but with products you can get something to market within a year,” says Maha Kutay, co-director of the design team. “All the pieces are designed by architects, and it can provide a rejuvenating break from the monotony of working on a building.”For a practice whose work is so focused on the production of novel forms, it appears that the product-development line provides a useful scale of experimentation, before multi-millions are invested in buildings. “Architecture takes years and years to produce, but with products you can get something to market within a year,” says Maha Kutay, co-director of the design team. “All the pieces are designed by architects, and it can provide a rejuvenating break from the monotony of working on a building.”
In some ways it recalls the approach of the master architects of yore, from Frank Lloyd Wright and Arne Jacobsen, to Alvar Aalto and Eero Saarinen, who enjoyed a megalomanic control over every detail, each project conceived as a gesamtkunstwerk, from the door handle to the city block. It might seem like an unlikely return to such times, but there is increasing demand from clients, particularly in Asia, for Hadid to extend her attentions beyond the jazzy envelope of the building down to the interiors and furniture. In the case of ZHA’s new homewares collection, however, it seems to be a process of reverse-engineering, scaling down her architectural proposals into trinkets.In some ways it recalls the approach of the master architects of yore, from Frank Lloyd Wright and Arne Jacobsen, to Alvar Aalto and Eero Saarinen, who enjoyed a megalomanic control over every detail, each project conceived as a gesamtkunstwerk, from the door handle to the city block. It might seem like an unlikely return to such times, but there is increasing demand from clients, particularly in Asia, for Hadid to extend her attentions beyond the jazzy envelope of the building down to the interiors and furniture. In the case of ZHA’s new homewares collection, however, it seems to be a process of reverse-engineering, scaling down her architectural proposals into trinkets.
“It’s a challenge trying to adapt the structural language of a building into something the size of a piece of furniture,” says Wandy Mulia, an architect who worked on the design of the Radia stools, little munchkin seats sprayed with sparkling car paint, which are based on another tower design.“It’s a challenge trying to adapt the structural language of a building into something the size of a piece of furniture,” says Wandy Mulia, an architect who worked on the design of the Radia stools, little munchkin seats sprayed with sparkling car paint, which are based on another tower design.
It makes you wonder if the extreme formal language of Planet Zaha isn’t better suited to the tabletop, where there is less to go wrong, freed from the critical realities of context and function. Perhaps these sweeping sinews are more appropriate for the privacy of the devoted fan’s living room, rather than imposed on the skyline for all to endure. They are the kind of bijou sculptural experiments that may work better when elegantly perched on a shelf, rather than forcefully lumbering across an urban block. It is strange, but in Harrods’ exclusive home department, Zaha Hadid might well have found her calling.It makes you wonder if the extreme formal language of Planet Zaha isn’t better suited to the tabletop, where there is less to go wrong, freed from the critical realities of context and function. Perhaps these sweeping sinews are more appropriate for the privacy of the devoted fan’s living room, rather than imposed on the skyline for all to endure. They are the kind of bijou sculptural experiments that may work better when elegantly perched on a shelf, rather than forcefully lumbering across an urban block. It is strange, but in Harrods’ exclusive home department, Zaha Hadid might well have found her calling.