The Opus, a mixed-use commercial and retail development in Dubai designed by Zaha Hadid, is being launched in London today.
The £235 million project by developer Omniyat Properties will be located at the Business Bay development on the Dubai waterfront.
More details when we have them.
>> see more architecture in the Gulf on our Google map of the region
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
I wonder if anyone’s taken the time to inventory the dollar value of all the development and architecture contracts that Dubai has racked up in the few years. It’s like an architect’s wet dream: near-unlimited funding, active encouragement of avant garde designs, and few environmental considerations.
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Awful!!!!!!!!
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
wonderfull vanguard
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:26 am
We see a Zaha’s project, we see them all…
Thank God there are architects like ?lvaro Siza, Norman Foster and Koolhaas!!!
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Either my monitor is broken, or theres a definite theme to the current architectural trend…
‘if it ain’t broken, break it’ ?
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
With all due respect, can we please have just one week without a new design by Zaha ? Or I just better go some place remote far far away…
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Pulling off all the bells and whistles in desperate attempt to gain iconic status. Just like about any new building in gulf area and China…
May 24th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Zaha does it again. Wonderfully inventive always fresh. She knows form like no other architect today. There is hope for the profession.
May 25th, 2007 at 4:00 am
you write:
>> see more architecture in the Gulf on our Google map of the region
Gulf? which gulf? Did you mean: Persian Gulf?
please don’t distort orginal name
Persian Gulf, It’s true.
Tanks
May 25th, 2007 at 6:38 am
The interior looks more interesting than what is on the outside
May 25th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
It’s not my kind of architecture. Designing something merely because ‘it can be done’ denies the importance of the relationship between form and function. And that relationship should always be fundamental to a design.
May 29th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Yepp…Interior is Great, but from the exterior, it’s missin the Zaha touch !!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Diva zaha,maybe as many said the interior is amazing but i think that she was trying to create a glass skin to face the waterfront of dubai city
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Dubai is like a rapid prototype machine that prints full scale models. Zaha just pressed the button of this machine for another full scale model.
July 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
can i please ask how many of those who are critisizing zaha, have actually designed buildings?!!!!!!!!!!!!
here is a new era of design which shows all the chaos and wiedness of our society today
July 28th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
nooooooooo comment
August 1st, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Hi! About the “few environmental considerations”, it’s not really true; they do care about it, has quiet all the buildings builded in the 2 past years and all comming one’s are HQE (some are even positiv, they product more energy that they use!); On an other hand creating island in the sea is far from respect to the environment!!! About the “cost”; you don’t really want to know, it would get you seek!
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:35 am
Hi, I rely like and appreciate Zaha’s works but for this time the interior is much more interesting although some may say exterior is vanguard!!!!
PS. But I should confess that I really like the way she works, her works always carry some spirit of young architiecture and this is very importent today.
September 8th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
I don’t think she’s bothered that you guys understand her work… she’s just too far ahead… it’s you/us who have to try and keep up!
no genius was ever recognized during his/her lifetime!
well done again zaha! keep it up!
November 14th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Architecture is not sculpture, and sculptors attempting to be architects should be put to death… but when an architect can incoporate a level of sculpture, god bless ‘em. I love that it is called vanguard, but still shows an elegant level of restraint. Even more impressive that level of restraint in Dubai.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
we are not sure about the inside, please make us believe that good form represents good plan.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
many praise zaha but few people know how many people behind her really move the office. Yes she is amazingly talented but props to partner Patrick Schumacher and the rest of the almost slave young architects who are designing while ms hadid does the proper PR (which is also hard). I like her earlier work better
January 12th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Martin Says:
It’s not my kind of architecture. Designing something merely because ‘it can be done’ denies the importance of the relationship between form and function. And that relationship should always be fundamental to a design.
if this rule its true, why de restorants dont have form a spaguetti, a hose form of bed, a office form of computer?
the mith of the international style, that the form must correspond with the function, dont allow more than euclidian pure geometries, and make a boring urban feel
every age have their styles, ther design concepts, their convictions, the modernism represent a plast age, like the romar architecture, or any past civilization
noe, today in te XIX century,the humans don’t hace right to use teir inventive to came out with ner designs proposals? according with this age?
January 29th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Before you start giving any comment to my post let me introduce myself : Senior Property Consultant, Omniyat Properties ( developer ), Dubai. The Opus is exclusivley designed for our company. Being a part of the sales team I can assure you that it is the most successful project on the market.It rocks! Not only because it has Zaha’s signature but also due to its office efficiency and quality – a true triple AAA commercial building.It can be yours at just 9000 USD per square meter
July 27th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I think that Zahas innovation is simple and amazing. Every single one of the people here writing kept there mouth open when they saw this building. Yes, I know, Zaha has greater architecture than this one, but it still amazes people, and innovates. This doesn’t means that its function and form dont have a relationship, of course it does, I mean she is a PRO-ARCHITECT, she knows perfectly this words and how to make them by the hand.
Oh and by the way, the building looks like if it where burned. Like if it where melting.