Zaha Hadid: even more than her buildings, it’s her mind that left its mark Changsha Meixihu Culture and Arts Centre, in Hunan province, China. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in 2019. Jason_x.j / Shutterstock.com Lakshmi Priya Rajendran, Anglia Ruskin University In the five years since Zaha Hadid’s passing, much has been written about the glorious and towering legacy the fabled British-Iraqi architect left behind. Thinking about what she started, though, is more instructive. Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Hadid – aka the Queen of Curve – fundamentally altered the contours of modern architecture and design. She shattered gender stereotypes … Continue reading Zaha Hadid – an extraordinary architect

Vision, the artist’s and the viewer’s, has been central to the production and appreciation of physical art. The mechanics of visions though, and their influence on perception are a subtext that is rarely addressed. This article reviews seven of the … Continue reading Seven Strange Quirks Of Human Vision

This is the group of artists, film makers, architects, software developers, and activists you might never have heard of but that might be hitting headlines shortly. I came across them a short while ago in the context of reconstruction of the much-disputed chemical weapons attack in Syria. From all available images, from all available sources, they reconstruct scenes such as this in order to bring out the most plausible understanding of what actually happened, and just now they are contenders for the Turner Prize 2018. As a side bonus (to me anyway – reflected glory and all that), they’re based … Continue reading Forensic Architecture

Today I’m simultaneously fretting over a still life on my OCA blog and sorting pieces for my first venture into commerce due to happen at the village hall on November 24th. Admittedly, the first involves an Alien sculpted out of scrap metal that behaves like an Escher when I try to draw it, a hatchling dragon still in its egg, and a pot cat with a cataract so, y’know. But it’s still the exposure of wildly differing assumptions of competence that makes for an interesting experience of what psychological integrity is all about. Nevertheless, fresh from the studio [and note … Continue reading As the internal conflict ramps up …