Architect Zaha Hadid won the London Design Museum's Design of the Year award for her Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.
Zaha Hadid she is the first woman to receive the prestigious Design of the Year Award, which is presented annually in London Design Museum. The jury was convinced by the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The cultural center rises undulatingly from the landscape in Zaha Hadid's signature aesthetic.
The outer platform breaks and with its waves creates a sequence of different ambiences that lead the viewer into the building. The center hides exhibition spaces, a concert hall and other spaces for cultural activities under its fiberglass-reinforced concrete folds. The soft lines of the building are pleasing to the eye, and the space flows imperceptibly and offers visitors many different possibilities of use.
70 projects were nominated for the award in the categories of architecture, fashion, graphic and product design, furniture and transport. All nominated projects can be viewed at the London Design Museum until August 25, 2014. The jury described the winning building as a beautiful, inspiring and clear vision of a unique genius.
