http://yoox.ly/yooxDesign The New Yooxer meets Zaha Hadid in Rome, during the opening of Maxxi, the National Museum of Arts from the 21st Century. After ten years of expectations, art and architecture creatively blend into each other in this experimental area, fluid and light. With her London-based studio, Zaha Hadid has created architecture and design projects around the world with her deconstructed but sinuous, almost abstract, signature: from the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid to the Ordrupgaad Museum in Copenhagen, as well as the Chanel Contemporary Art Container, which is touring between Paris and Hong Kong. In 2004 she was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Read the exclusive interview with Zaha Hadid: If you had a design manifesto, what would that be? My architecture takes the fluid dynamism of the sketching hand as a literal option for an architecture that is driven by new developments in digital design and enhanced manufacturing capabilities. Each project is the very latest development of this architecture explored by the practice, generating a sculptural sensuality with a coherent formal logic. Extensive developments in construction materials and techniques have also enabled us to rethink form and space radically. Would you describe your design objects as small architectures? The idea always comes from the same source, creation changes according to the focus, the technique, the project. Designing products is of great importance to us. The pieces are experimental, quicker to execute than the architecture projects and inspire creativity. We see it as part of a continuous process of design investigation. Which are your favorite designers from the past? I like the work of historical figures like Mies van der Rohe and Oscar Niemeyer. Oscar Niemeyer had a deep and lasting influence on my work. I have visited many of his works in Brazil, and also had the privilege to meet him personally on several occasions. You have recently designed a shoe collection: what is your relationship with fashion and shopping? These fashion collaborations provide an opportunity to express our ideas in a different scale and through different media. Contemporary society is not standing still and architecture and fashion must both evolve with the patterns of life. Maxxi is your first project in Italy: how did you imagine a dialogue between Rome's different architectures? It is important to intervene in a contemporary way -- but you must do it in a very precise manner. My idea is to start from local ideas and traditions in design but to then make them into something new and unusual. Apart from architecture, which are your inspirations? My ideas come from observation: of the site, of nature, of people moving in the city. It's always about how you move people through a space, and how they use it. According to the international press, it represents the confirmation of Rome's artistic renaissance: much more than just a museum, Maxxi is actually an urban campus. Built on the grounds of a former military barracks, the building has a moving structure: natural light models glass, steel and concrete, turning this system of geometries into an exhibition area to enjoy both indoor and outdoor. *** yoox.com, established in 2000, is the world's leading lifestyle e-store for multi-brand fashion, design and art. Shopping on yoox.com is all about discovery - an eclectic and playful journey beyond fashion's strict seasonal rules - allowing men and women to express their individuality through timeless and creative style. http://yoox.ly/shopyoox Powered by YOOX Group

• published: 10 Jun 2010
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