Author: Marianna Wahlsten

Zaha Hadid 1950-2016 – A visionary and creative force

The sudden death of architect Dame Zaha Hadid last Thursday in Miami has been a shock. At the hight of her career, honoured with several awards, including the RIBA Gold Medal in the beginning of this year, she was a pioneering force in a male-dominated profession, occupying a global position as one of the most influential female figures in contemporary culture.

Miami had become Zaha Hadid’s second hometown, a stopover in her busy travel and work schedule. The tropical climate and beautiful light brought out the best in her flamboyant designs. Zaha was the favourite artist of local collector, property developer and Design Miami patron Craig Robins. She was often referred to by her first name, like royalty.
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Urban space and the arts patrons: Prada, Broad, Hirst and Zhukova

Big gestures from powerful patrons shaping cities and tastes

2015 was a year of big gestures in the the global game of arts patronage. On an ever grander scale the urban space was shaped by private commissions from leading architects: in May Fondazione Prada, designed by Rem Koolhaas, opened in Milan; in June Garage Museum, also by Koolhaas, relaunched by Russian entrepreneur Dasha Zhukova in Moscow. Then the Broad in Downtown LA opened in September and Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery in London in October. Read more

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Conceptual wood imagined by Ai Weiwei

Artworks and play with beautiful wood by Chinese artist, architect and activist Ai Weiwei exhibited in Helsinki at the renovated HAM Museum

Ai Weiwei’s freedom to travel was reinstated in the autumn and he was able to attend openings of his big European shows, first in London at the Royal Academy and then in Helsinki at the renovated HAM Museum. Two spaces with very different cultural connotations, something that Ai’s work also plays with. At the moment Ai is travelling around Italy and Greece, helping refugees as well as researching for a forthcoming exhibition in Florence on the meaning of Renaissance architecture.

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Maison Carré near Paris, by photographer Elina Brotherus

‘Les femmes de la Maison Carré’ exhibition inside a late 1950s home by Alvar Aalto

Fine art photographer Elina Brotherus went to imagine life at Maison Louis Carré, the French art collectors home designed by Alvar Aalto. The series has been part of an exhibition at the house, which is now open for the public near Paris.

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Paris Photo, until tragic Friday 13 attacks

Last week 173 galleries from all continents had gathered for Paris Photo inside the great halls of the Grand Palais.

After Friday’s devastating attacks Paris Photo fair did not open for public anymore, as the city shut down in mourning. Openings elsewhere in Paris coincided with the fair and artists were present. Many of those shows will continue. The Grand Palais retrospective on French photographer Lucien Clergue, who was also the founder of the Arles photo festival, will be open until February next year.

On Thursday I spent the day exploring Paris Photo booths and saw vintage prints of magical mid-19th century landscapes as well as famous 60s and 70s fashion photographs. And then the most recent abstract, camera-less explorations, where the ephemeral subject is just light. Spanning 150 years, the fair is a fascinating overview of the human gaze and the framing of the world: buildings, nature, fashions, people.

Palmyra, Louis Vignes, photography, vintage print, Paris Photo — ©Louis Vignes, Syria, albumen print, 1864, James Hyman Gallery

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Poetic materiality – Ai Weiwei and intuition

Artist and activist – Ai Weiwei’s collaborations on global architecture projects

At a recent Royal Academy event architect Daniel Rosbottom compared Ai Weiwei’s use of brick in his buildings with the sunflower seeds in the famous Tate Modern installation: “each brick is different, but also part of a multitude”. Ai’s poetic sensibility in the way he uses materials can be evidenced at RA’s retrospective, on until December 13, where a small separate exhibition tells the story of the studio and home he designed in the Beijing suburb of Caochangdi for himself and the series of brick houses around it.

With Swiss architect Simon Hartmann and expert on Chinese art Philip Tinari, Rosbottom spoke about architecture as part of Ai’s art and activism, drawing parallels with minimalism in the way the buildings make you think about spatial volumes. As Rosbottom points out the debt to artists like Donald Judd might be unconscious, but the play with proportion and spatial tension is similar.

Ai Weiwei, HHF Architects, Tsai Residence, Iwan Baan — Tsai Residence, Ai Weiwei and HHF Architects, American Architecture Award 2009, photo ©Iwan Baan

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