The powerless starchitect

How Zaha Hadid became the first person working on the Al-Wakrah stadium that actually did die

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7480/projectbaikal.47-48.971

Keywords:

starchitect, Zaha Hadid, Al-Wakrah stadium, 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar, migrant workers, Nepal, India, deaths, architectural critics, Martin Filler, The Guardian

Abstract

Starchitect Zaha Hadid won the bid to design one of the planned stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup event in Qatar. Her design for the Al-Wakrah stadium became the centrepiece of a discussion on the role that starchitects play in society. That debate reached a boiling point in August 2014, and resulted in a digital lynching party that sheds serious doubts on the ethics and professionalism of architectural critics and journalists alike.

How to Cite

van der Hoeven, F. (2016). The powerless starchitect: How Zaha Hadid became the first person working on the Al-Wakrah stadium that actually did die. Project Baikal, 13(47-48), 170–178. https://doi.org/10.7480/projectbaikal.47-48.971

Published

2016-05-19

Issue

Section

Articles

References

Central Bureau of Statistics. (2014). Population Monograph on Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal: Government of Nepal, National Planning Commission Secretariat, Central Bureau of Statistics.

Choi, A. (2007). Dear Architects, I am sick of your shit. PIDGIN–a publication of the graduate students of the Princeton School of Architecture, (2), 266–269.

DLA Piper. (2014). Migrant labour in the construction sector in the State of Qatar. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/doc/225897899/Qatar-Dla-Final-Report-May-2014-For-Publication

Filler, M. (2014a). The Insolence of Architecture. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/06/05/insolence-architecture/

Filler, M. (2014b). A Letter Correcting and Apologizing for a Statement About Zaha Hadid. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved from http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/09/25/apology-zaha-hadid/

Goldberger, P. (2014). Zaha Hadid is Still Wrong About Construction Worker Conditions. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/architecture/2014/08/zaha-hadid-worker-conditionslawsuit

Office for National Statistics. (2014). How have mortality rates by age changed over the last 50 years? Retrieved from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/death-reg-sum-tables/2013/sty-mortality-rates-by-age.html

Open Government Data Platform India. (2016). Estimated Age-Specific Death Rates by Sex - 2006–2011. Retrieved from https://data.gov.in/catalog/estimated-age-specific-death-rates-sex

Pattisson, P. (2013). Revealed: Qatar’s World Cup ‘slaves’. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/24/qatar–2022-world-cup–185-nepalese-workers-died–2013

Pedersen, M.C. (2014). Governments, Not Architects, Should Shoulder Responsibility for Worker Deaths, Says Hadid. Metropolis. Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/February–2014/Governments-Not-Architects-Should-Shoulder-Responsibility-for-Worker-Deaths-Says-Hadid/

Riach, J. (2014). Zaha Hadid defends Qatar World Cup role following migrant worker deaths. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/zaha-hadid-qatar-world-cupmigrant-worker-deaths

Royal Institute of British Architects. (2016). ROYAL GOLD MEDAL 2016 - ZAHA HADID. Retrieved from https://www.architecture.com/Awards/RGM/RGM2016/ZahaHadid.aspx

Schellenbaum, A. (2014). Here’s What You Need to Know About Zaha Hadid Suing a Critic. Curbed. Retrieved from http://www.curbed.com/2014/8/26/10056120/zaha-hadid-sues-critic-explain

Shaw, M. (2014). Why Zaha Hadid Is Suing The New York Review of Books. Architizer. Retrieved from http://architizer.com/blog/why-zahahadid-is-suing-the-new-york-review-of-books/

Stott, R. (2015). The Critics Speak: 6 Reasons why Hadid Shouldn’t Have Sued the New York Review of Books. Archdaily. Retrieved from http://www.archdaily.com/542852/the-critics-speak–6-reasons-why-hadidshouldn-t-have-sued-the-new-york-review-of-books)

The Hyatt Foundation, (2004). Zaha Hadid Becomes the First Woman to Receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Retrieved from http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2004/announcement

UNStudio. (2012). Qatar Integrated Railway Project (QIRP). Retrieved from http://www.unstudio.com/projects/qatar-integratedrailway-project-qirp

Vartanian, H. (2014). Zaha Hadid Is an Awful Human Being, Says “Not My Duty” to Prevent Migrant Worker Deaths. Hyperallergic. Retrieved from http://hyperallergic.com/111665/zaha-hadid-is-an-awful-humanbeing-says-not-my-duty-to-prevent-migrant-worker-deaths/

Wainwright, O. (2013). Zaha Hadid’s sport stadiums: ‘Too big, too expensive, too much like a vagina’. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/28/zaha-hadidstadiums-vagina

Walker, L. (2015). Foster + Partners win bid to design Qatar’s Lusail World Cup stadium. Doha News. Retrieved from http://dohanews.co/fosterpartners-win-bid-to-design-qatars-lusail-world-cup-stadium/