Not everybody loves the Pritzker Prize-winner, abstract-building-designer architect, Zaha Hadid, especially not the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center. The group has accused the architect's latest project in the city, the Galaxy Soho Shopping Complex, of "destroying the city's heritage" and violating numerous preservation laws and regulations, according to several media reports.
The group criticized the project after the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) honored the building with an international award. The structure has also been shortlisted for the RIBA Lubetkin Prize in the best international building category.
The city's preservation watchdog wrote a letter to the RIBA rebuking their decision to grant such a prestigious award to a structure that clearly disrespected the culture of the city and disregarded the land rights of its original residents. It also added that the award would only encourage builders to ignore cultural heritage in their design. It also questioned the project's land acquisition process and legal building code, reports Dezeen.
"The Galaxy Soho Project is definitely a typical unfortunate example on the destruction of Beijing old town; but, not withstanding, it has been selected as a winner of your award. Many of us in Beijing are very disappointed and offended," the group wrote in its letter.
"We strongly believe that this award by your institution will only encourage these developers and authorities to continue to commit the wrongs they have done and will increase the difficulties of cultural heritage preservation in China," it added.
Read the letter, here.
When Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA, Hadid's architecture firm) was asked to comment on the issue, a spokesperson for the firm said:
"Throughout the design process, ZHA worked with the Local Design Institute (LDI) to ensure the project complies with all government building regulations and planning requirements. When ZHA was appointed to the project, no buildings existed on the site which is adjacent to large scale commercial/civic buildings and one of Beijing's busiest motorways."
About the Galaxy Soho Building
The Galaxy Soho is a mixed use building in the heart of Beijing. The structure takes up around 332,857 meters square area. The project comprises of four dome-like towers, each comprising of 15 floors (12 office levels and three retail). Hadid explains that the design of the domed structure, especially the curving shape draws inspiration from the design of old Chinese courtyards.
According to the ZHA website, "Galaxy Soho reinvents the greater interior courts of Chinese antiquity to create an internal world of continuous open spaces. Here, architecture no longer incorporates rigid blocks, but instead comprises volumes which coalesce to achieve continuous mutual adaptation and fluid movement between buildings."
Check out the pictures of the structure, here.
However, Zaha Hadid is unstoppable. New York , the urban jungle, is all geared up to get "Zaha-ed." Her firm revealed renderings of an 11-story condo building slated to come up just "adjacent to High Line at 520 West 28th Street" in the Chelsea neighborhood.
