黑洞社区

Zaha Hadid has been labelled a diva so often she has made a fashion statement of it. At the opening of the Cincinatti Arts Centre, her first major completed building, the project team wore T-shirts bearing the slogan: 鈥淲ould they call me a diva if I were a guy?鈥�

Diva or not, nobody can deny that her buildings look incredible. Soaring masterpieces of undulating glass and freeform concrete that seem to defy the laws of physics. A new image from Hadid will nearly always make it onto 黑洞社区鈥檚 news pages, usually the front one.

However, it鈥檚 not just her designs that make the front page. With depressing familiarity, the end products are delayed, over budget or scrapped. Take the Olympic aquatics centre, for example. Announced with fanfare as the architectural jewel in the crown of the 2012 London Games, it has been scaled back, redesigned and has scared off all but one contractor 鈥� and before a brick has even been laid it is three times over budget.

At least that will get built. Even after the appointment of a 鈥渕anaging architect鈥� and two contractors, Zaha鈥檚 拢5m Architecture Foundation HQ was axed last week.

Since Hadid set up her practice in 1980, only a scattering of buildings have been completed 鈥� 11 in central Europe, one in America, and one in Scotland. Many more are in development, but the Iraq-born architect is unlikely to have anything completed in England before 2012.

Why are Zaha鈥檚 projects so problematic? Are their difficulties symptomatic of a growing reluctance in the industry to take on signature architecture? And now that the construction market appears to have peaked, will it be easier or more difficult to get challenging projects like hers built?

Nobody at Zaha Hadid Architects wished to contribute to this article, but others who are working closely with the practice say her reputation as a diva is undeserved. WSP is the consultant engineer on three Zaha Hadid commissions in Kazakhstan, as well as projects in Libya and the Middle East, all of which are at an early stage. Bill Price, director of buildings at WSP, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e found them to be pragmatic and sensible about costs and practicalities. But we know of their reputation as challenging people, so it could be that we鈥檙e in a honeymoon period!

鈥淯p to this point our experience has been a traditional, considered process of dialogue,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he back of the envelope could still appear, but I really do doubt it.鈥�

This experience is echoed by Ken McAlpine, HBG鈥檚 Scotland director, whose firm is set to build Hadid鈥檚 拢74m Glasgow Transport Museum. Although HBG ended up being the only contractor willing to take it on, McAlpine is sanguine about the work. 鈥淭his is the first Zaha Hadid building we鈥檝e taken on,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 think it鈥檒l be the last. There鈥檚 nothing to be frightened of if it鈥檚 priced on the right basis.鈥�

None of the big-name architects we work with particularly want to make life easy for us, but why should they?

Bill Price, WSP

McAlpine says the museum has a complex design but having worked on a number of projects with the council and engineer Buro Happold, HBG is confident the project will progress smoothly. 鈥淲e鈥檝e built complex projects before. Why should this one be any different?鈥� he says.

The success of a complex project rests on how easily the project team is able to solve whatever problems may arise. This job is design and build, so the team has a lot of flexibility. Just as well, given the budget has already swelled by 拢14m since the project was announced.

Indeed. But somewhere like London, where the market is still overheated, contractors might find delivering a complex design a risk too far. Ken Shuttleworth, whose practice Make Architects has several schemes under way in the capital, says that may be a problem for someone like Hadid.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been so much work on contractors don鈥檛 need to go for it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much easier to go for simpler stuff, especially as there鈥檚 been a move back to construction management as the credit crunch goes through. There has been a process where radical things are getting scaled back.鈥�

Will Alsop, whose designs are almost as complex as Hadid鈥檚, says there is still an appetite among contractors for difficult jobs, but in the financial climate it is a matter of scale. 鈥淚 was talking to a contractor this morning, and he said they like nothing better than a medium-sized challenging project, up to about 拢50m or so,鈥� he says.

The question is, are they willing to do it on a grander scale? Although Hadid鈥檚 designs are spectacular, they are difficult to build. 鈥淚n terms of geography and aesthetic difficulty, the Hadid projects we鈥檙e working on are among the most complex that I鈥檝e ever done,鈥� says Price, which is significant given he has worked with Gehry, Nouvel and Calatrava.

鈥淣one of these big-name architects we work with particularly want to make life easy for us, but why should they? These guys are knowledgeable about what engineers can do, and ultimately it is a positive thing, because you get a better building.鈥�

Price鈥檚 use of the word 鈥済uys鈥� may irritate the Cincinnati Arts Centre team, but semantics aside it鈥檚 a slap in the face to cynics who say that Zaha鈥檚 contribution to a building is a squiggle on a notepad handed to the engineer. In the end, the industry needs architects like her to build impressive buildings. To that end it is to be hoped that contractors are not scared off. Alsop says: 鈥淎ttractive buildings bring people joy, and happiness saves the country a huge amount of money. And of course they help with tourism, and so on. So, if contractors are fighting shy of building great buildings, then they鈥檙e doing the country a huge disservice.鈥�