Zaha Hadid Architects has constructed an experimental structure on the grounds of London’s V&A Museum, just in time for the London Design Festival. The temporary installation is the practice’s thinnest shell structure to date, testing new design and construction technologies for achieving minimal material thickness while “investigating the relationship between formal arrangement and structural performance.”
As Zaha Hadid describes: “Crest explores the relationship between surface and structure, transforming the planar water surface of the V&A courtyard’s pool into a curvilinear form, creating a compelling interplay with light and reflection. This experimental sculpture tests the limits and possibilities for a new construction technique involving the assembly of aluminum panels into a pre-stressed flat plate which is then lifted into a self-supporting structure.”
“Crest is designed as a demountable sculpture to be installed at the ME Hotel, Dubai (2016); establishing an intriguing dialogue with the formal dichotomy inherent within the hotel’s design.”
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Luke Hayes
