黑洞社区

Patrik Schumacher has emerged bruised from a long-running legal row that threatened to tear apart the practice he ran with the late Zaha Hadid.

Hadid鈥檚 long-term collaborator settled his 鈥渢oxic dispute鈥� with the three other executors of the architect鈥檚 will out of court after more than three years of bitter in-fighting that .

One significant matter that could not be resolved ended up before a judge at the High Court, this month in a case said to have cost millions of pounds that will come out of Hadid鈥檚 拢100m estate.

Schumacher (pictured) wanted the power of veto over the firm鈥檚 board of trustees so he could be in control of the business, which his lawyers argued was .

But in a blow to his ability to make decisions about the practice, the judge ruled against him. According to a chief master Matthew Marsh said granting Schumacher this power would leave the director 鈥渋n a very difficult position with regard to conflicts of interest鈥�.

The court had heard a string of colourful allegations against Schumacher 鈥� which he counters are 鈥渦nproven, contested, and must be considered in the context of a long-running, acrimonious dispute鈥�.

The allegations fall into two areas 鈥� personal and professional 鈥� and arise from two independent reports submitted to the court that were critical of Schumacher and were the result of complaints by whistleblowers, the Guardian said.

The personal allegations were that he had had several 鈥渃landestine鈥� relationships with junior members of staff, pushed for payrises and promotions for favoured staff, and that he had fathered a child with his current partner, an employee.

The other allegations were said to centre around 鈥渘umerous failings of corporate governance鈥� by Schumacher who was accused of abusing veto powers.

The judge did not make any ruling on the allegations but he was reported to have said Hadid 鈥渄idn鈥檛 wish for this dispute, which is the real tragedy鈥�.

In a statement, Zaha Hadid Architects said it was 鈥渄ismayed by the unfounded allegations being made against Patrik Schumacher鈥�.

It added: 鈥淭he allegations are unproven, contested, and must be considered in the context of a long-running, acrimonious dispute between the trustees of Zaha鈥檚 estate. Patrik began working with Zaha Hadid in 1988 and their near 30-year collaboration is the foundation of our success. Under his leadership, we continue to build upon the legacy Zaha and Patrik established together over almost three decades.鈥�

The other executors declined to comment.

The legal row first became public in 2018 when Schumacher lodged a High Court claim against the other executors of the late architect鈥檚 拢100m estate 鈥� stained glass artist Brian Clarke, Hadid鈥檚 niece Rana Hadid, and property developer Peter Palumbo 鈥� in a bid to oust them.

The three, who were appointed directors of Zaha Hadid Holdings, the practice鈥檚 parent company, in 2017, issued a statement at the time saying Hadid had appointed them as executors because she trusted them to act in her best interests.

鈥淎ll three were known to Zaha for decades; one was a close family member, and the other two were very good friends,鈥� it said, adding: 鈥淭he attempt to remove these three executors is totally unjustified and misconceived.鈥�

At the same time they quietly to probe the practice鈥檚 corporate governance which is not required to share information with the rest of the board of ZHL.

The first indication of bad blood between Schumacher and his fellow executors came when he made a libertarian speech arguing that social housing was wrong and that most of Hyde Park should be built over. The other three issued a statement distancing themselves and Hadid from his views.

Hadid, who died suddenly in March 2016, left an estate now valued at 拢100m which included individual bequests of 拢500,000 each for Schumacher and Rana Hadid as well as the same amount each for her brother and nephew.

The remainder of her estate was to be held in trust for up to 125 years with the trustees given discretion over its allocation. A default clause would revert all undistributed proceeds to the Zaha Hadid Foundation.

This month鈥檚 out-of-court settlement is said to have agreed that the bulk of her wealth will go to the foundation and that shares in the practice, known as Zaha Hadid Ltd (ZHL), will be placed in an employee-benefit trust chaired by Schumacher.

Previously the sole shareholder of ZHL was Zaha Hadid Holdings (ZHH) whose directors are Clarke, Palumbo, Rana Hadid and Schumacher.

The foundation, a charity, has plans to award scholarships to help Arab women become architects and to establish a museum of Hadid鈥檚 work.