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The BRIT Awards has announced that the statuettes that will be given during their 2017 awards ceremony have been designed by the late Zaha Hadid.
Hadid had accepted the project in January of this year and developed concepts for the design before her sudden passing in March of this year. The work has since been led by Zaha Hadid Design Director Maha Kutay and the BRIT Awards Niamh Byrne.
“Zaha was truly excited to be doing this,” recalled Kutay. “Her vision was, being an architect, to focus our efforts more on the 3D element, as the statue had previously been used as a canvas for artists to paint on for the last few years. Our design expresses Zaha’s unwavering belief in progress and optimism for the future and a break from the norm. The biggest challenge was to create something different within certain guidelines, yet achieving a result recognisable to the public. You have to respect the existing to create something new.”
The final designs will consist of a family of 5 interrelated statuettes representing diversity, and will be revealed in full later this year.
“The family is connected by a wave of transition, they are different yet connected,” explains Kutay.
Explaining his reasons for approaching Hadid, BRITs Chairman Jason Iley remarked, “Zaha’s work is innovative, original and recognises diversity in culture. It has much in common with music. She was the perfect choice for progressing the Award into the future.”
A self-proclaimed huge fan of music, Hadid took part in an interview with BBC’s Desert Island Discs, in which she listed a range of artists including Drake, Bryan Ferry, The Beatles, Sam Smith and Adele amongst her favorites.
In 2015, Hadid collaborated with artist and producer Pharrell Williams to create a pair of sneakers for the Adidas Originals line. About the collaboration Williams said, “I’m a huge fan of Zaha’s. I would venture to say that she’s one of the most talented architects of our time, and of history in my opinion.”
The BRIT Awards 2017 will take place at London’s O2 Arena on Wednesday February 22nd.
News via Zaha Hadid Architects.
