The completion of Zaha Hadid's Central Library for the University of Seville is threatened by a court decision that declares the urban plan permitting its construction illegal. The competition-winning design of 2006 has been under construction since last October. Image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects The library is being constructed in the Prado de San Sebastián Park, in Seville, Spain. A lawsuit threatens to halt the project. The $30 million building is sited in the 12-acre Prado de San Sebastián Park, created in 1994 on a portion of the grounds of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. In 2006, the city modified its

Zaha Hadid, the Baghdad-born, London-based architect, has received two major commissions in as many weeks for large-scale projects to be built in Cairo, Egypt. Images courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects Hadid's firm has designed a mixed-used complex called Stone Towers (top). Her firm also won an invited competition for an “Expo City” in Cairo (above). First came word of a new speculative development southeast of the city center. The Stone Towers is a 5.5-million-square-foot office and retail complex set in 42 landscaped acres, including a five-star hotel and sunken gardens, all designed by the 2004 Pritzker Prize laureate. Two weeks later,

Correction appended May 13, 2009 A fire has charred part of an opera house designed by Zaha Hadid currently under construction in Guangzhou, China. It is the second major building blaze in the country this year. While the fire appears to have caused minimal structural damage, investigators are still trying to determine the extent of damage to the 753,000-square-foot, steel-and-concrete complex. There were no injuries or casualties, according to a spokesman for Zaha Hadid. Photo courtesy Architecture BBS A fire has charred part of an opera house designed by Zaha Hadid currently under construction in Guangzhou, China. Related Links: New

The largest business school in the European Union, the 20,000-student Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, has increased its head count by two a half times since 1981. Yet it has accommodated this explosive growth hastily, scattering four academic campuses throughout its home city. Image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects Zaha Hadid Architects won a competition to design a new Library and Learning Center for the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. In October 2007 school and government officials announced the university would consolidate into a 22.7-acre site just south of the city’s fairgrounds. And this past November a

One of the limitations of relying on images to explain architecture is that the practice can sometimes encourage viewers to see buildings primarily as objects.

  In a project that fuses fashion, art, and architecture, Zaha Hadid has created a moveable art space for the fashion house Chanel. Taking his cues from Mademoiselle Chanel herself—who supported Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Jacques Lipchitz, and other artists during her lifetime—Karl Lagerfeld, the company’s director of collections and ready-to-wear, gathered 20 international artists to collaborate with Chanel on unique art installations for the gallery. Officially opened yesterday in Hong Kong, the Mobile Art Pavilion, which resembles a space capsule, will touch down for one to two months at a time over the next two years in Tokyo, London, Moscow,

Michigan State University (MSU) has picked Zaha Hadid Architects to design its new $26-million Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, in East Lansing, Michigan, school officials announced today. Hadid’s selection emerged from a competition that began last June and had narrowed to five firms, including Morphosis, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Coop Himmelb(l)au, and Randall Stout Architects. Joseph Giovannini chaired the selection committee. Images courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects Michigan State University has selected Zaha Hadid's design for its new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (top). Her design calls for a sharply angular, low-slung horizontal three-story building with a glass and aluminum

Can an iconic new building by a world-renowned architect boost the global profile of an already well-regarded higher education institution? Officials at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University hope so. Last week they unveiled the competition-winning design by London-based Zaha Hadid for an interdisciplinary hub that will be home to its school of design, which BusinessWeek ranked among the top 60 worldwide in 2006. She beat out SANAA, of Japan, and Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, of Germany, to win the commission. Images: Courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects The shape of Hadid’s new tower for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is reminiscent of a

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed a 921,832-square-foot speculative office and retail complex in Dubai for Omniyat Properties.