Zaha Hadid's flowing Heydar Aliyev Center named Design of the Year for 2014

The Design Museum's Design of the Year Award for 2014 has been awarded to Zaha Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Center. Hadid is not only the first woman to win the top prize, but the center is the first architectural project to win the overall competition.

The building, full of undulating curves and large glass windows to let in lots of natural light, is located in Baku, Azerbaijan. It serves as the primary building for many of the nation's cultural programs.

"We’re absolutely delighted to receive the Design of the Year Award. The surface of the Heydar Aliyev Centre’s external plaza rises and folds to define a sequence of public event spaces within; welcoming, embracing and directing visitors throughout the building," said Hadid. "It’s an architectural landscape where concepts of seamless spatial flow are made real – creating a whole new kind of civic space for the city."

The Design of the Year prize was awarded by a panel of experts; over 70 designs were nominated across all categories (Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport). All nominated designs will be displayed in an exhibition at the Design Museum until August 25.

There was another first among the winners this year: Phonebloks, designed by Dave Hakkens, won the first Social Vote, which allowed the global public to vote on all of the design entries and choose their own winner. Phonebloks is a design project meant to encourage the mobile phone industry to cut electronic waste out of their designs and make a more lasting product.

A few of the judges on why they chose the Heydar Aliyev Center:

Kim Colin, Industrial Facility said: ‘A great architect needs a great client, technology, the public, the landscape and the right time. The jury felt that for Zaha's office, this is a pinnacle moment in their portfolio, a sign of international maturity. The jury argued heatedly for and against, and then we finally agreed unanimously that the project deserves our utmost respect. This architecture should make us talk for years to come.’

Photo Credit: Iwan Baan; photos courtesy Design Museum

Ben Terrett, Government Digital Service said: ‘It's a stunning, iconic building. One thing that struck me was how it really feels like the swooping curves are the structure. Too often with this type of design it's a facade of something interesting put on top of the usual box. This is different.’

Photo Credit: Iwan Baan; photos courtesy Design Museum

Nick Perry, Head of London, Bird & Bird said: ‘This is a truly remarkable piece of architecture. Designs of the Year exists to find and celebrate work such as this, and the breadth and depth of work which has been celebrated is testament to the diverse nature of design. Innovation and design are of huge importance to business, and all of the individuals involved have demonstrated exceptional insight and skill. We are thrilled to have been involved in supporting Designs of the Year this year.’

Photo Credit: Iwan Baan; photos courtesy Design Museum

Project Credits:

Architect:

Zaha Hadid Architects

Design:

Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher

with Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu

Project Architect:

Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu

Project Team:

Sara Sheikh Akbari, Shiqi Li, Phil Soo Kim, Marc Boles, Yelda Gin, Liat Muller, Deniz Manisali, Lillie Liu, Jose Lemos, Simone Fuchs, Jose Ramon Tramoyeres, Yu Du, Tahmina Parvin, Erhan Patat, Fadi Mansour, Jaime Bartolome, Josef Glas, Michael Grau, Deepti Zachariah, Ceyhun Baskin, Daniel Widrig

Special thanks to Charles Walker

Commercial and residential construction can be as different as night and day. But as one who covered the housing industry for nearly a decade, I firmly believe AEC firms can learn some valuable lessons from the trials and tribulations that home builders experienced during the Great Recession, writes BD+C's John Caulfield.

| Dec 22, 2014

Skanska to build Miami’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science

Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the 250,000-sf museum will serve as an economic engine and cultural anchor for Miami’s fast-growing urban core.

Renderings courtesy Studio Gang Architects

| Dec 22, 2014

Studio Gang to design Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper

The first U.S. real-estate investment by The Wanda Group, owned by China’s richest man, will be an 88-story, 1,148-ft-tall mixed-use tower designed by Jeanne Gang.

Renderings courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

| Dec 19, 2014

Zaha Hadid unveils dune-shaped HQ for Emirati environmental management company

Zaha Hadid Architects released designs for the new headquarters of Emirati environmental management company Bee’ah, revealing a structure that references the shape and motion of a sand dune.

| Dec 19, 2014

Chicago Architecture Biennial to hold 'Lakefront Kiosk Competition'

The first Chicago Architecture Biennial will take place from October 2015-January 2016, with a theme of "The State of the Art of Architecture."

Photo: Greg O'Beirne via Wikimedia Commons

| Dec 18, 2014

Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West to be recreated—with LEGO

Containing more than 180,000 LEGO bricks in 11 colors and 120 different shapes, the model measures eight by four feet and is made entirely of standard LEGO parts.

| Dec 18, 2014

11 new highs for tall buildings: CTBUH recaps the year's top moments in skyscraper construction

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat cherrypicked the top moments from 2014, including a record concrete pour, a cautionary note about high-rise development, and two men's daring feat.

| Dec 18, 2014

International Parking Institute and Green Parking Council collaborate with GBCI

The new collaboration recognizes importance of sustainable parking facility design and management to the built environment.

Currently Reading

Zaha Hadid's flowing Heydar Aliyev Center named Design of the Year for 2014

Tags

| Dec 27, 2014

| Dec 23, 2014

| Dec 22, 2014

| Dec 22, 2014

| Dec 22, 2014

| Dec 19, 2014

| Dec 19, 2014

| Dec 18, 2014

| Dec 18, 2014

| Dec 18, 2014

Most Popular Content

Magazine Subscription

Get our Newsletters

Follow BD+C: