Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a retail and business centre for the resort of Jesolo near Venice in Italy.
Called Jesolo Magica, the project will include shops, bars, restaurants, offices, a hotel, a congress centre and health centre.
The building is due for completion in 2014.
See all our stories about Zaha Hadid in our special category.
The information that follows is from Zaha Hadid Architects:
Jesolo is one of Italy’s most established seaside resorts and the design of Jesolo Magica makes full advantage of its location near the Venice Lagoon.
The project aims to be the catalyst for reinvention and regeneration – giving the of the town of Jesolo an excellent opportunity to further develop as a conference and holiday destination.
The design creates a continuum of fluid space that instigates a renewed sense of possibility.
The disparate elements of the Jesolo Magica complex fit together to form a coherent field of buildings, each one separate – but logically connected to the next in a continually changing ensemble.
The volumes encompassing the retail centre “open-up” around a central space, like the petals of a flower. The hotel building forms the final “petal”, framing the views over the adjacent lagoon.
In addition to offices, retail spaces and restaurants, the Jesolo Magica project features a hotel with conference center, spa, nightclub and outdoor spaces for events.
JESOLO MAGICA – RETAIL & BUSINESS CENTRE
2010 – 2014
PROGRAM: Retail, Bar, Gymnasium, Hotel, Restaurant, Offices, Congress and Wellness centre
CLIENT: HomeGroup
ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects
DESIGN: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Gianluca Racana
PROJECT ARCHITECT: Paolo Matteuzzi
DESIGN TEAM: Marco Amoroso, David Campos, Ayat Fadaifard, Massimiliano Piccinini, Ivan Valdez, Francesca Venturoni
STRUCTURES: Favero & Milan Ingegneria
M&E: Manens Intertecnica
COST: Building Consulting
CITY PLAN CONGRUITY: Proteco
March 11th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I’m sorry this is too far. It could be anywhere……even outer space
March 11th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
vintage hadid, not a single image of what’s inside…
March 11th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
I REALLY LOVE Battlestar Galactica..
March 11th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
No no.. Take this creature back to Middle East, Zaha!!
March 11th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Apparently, the people at Hadid believe this project only looks good from a birdseye perspective…
March 11th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
They will have to invent a new material to make this happen. The workers will have to sharpen there skills in math just to figure out the right algorithm.
Will love to see it when finished!
Zaha’s the one!!!
March 11th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Zaha… you vixen you
March 11th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
zaha hadid… always interesting forms, feeling of movements…
March 11th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Do not like.
Normally I like zaha, but it seems like the world is going to be amazingly cluttered with just plain bizarre shapes created by her. This building isn’t speaking to me.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
et voila, another one
March 11th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
looks more at home inside my car’s engine bay
March 11th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
blah(b)…blah(b)…blob…
…it would be a cool sconce, though…
March 11th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
i’m sorry , but i never imagined that scatology will end up as a resource for architectural design … bad ,bad ,bad
March 11th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Futuristic!
François Beydoun
March 11th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Wow those housey buildings next to it are already quite large looking, this project seems way out of scale. Also whats the deal with rendering 2, is that the same building? Puffer fish architecture?
March 11th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
The description refers to organic forms observed in nature (flowers).
But the natural creation always seems to reveal a deeper meaning to its form, in many cases to the total amazement of those who bother to find out.
In this random sculpture proposed by Zaha Hadid, the orthogonal grid of the columns and parking lots are a humorous reminder what is the underlying rationale of the architectural forms built by humans, for humans, throughout centuries.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Poop!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
catalyst for reinvention ? I would call it senseless madness !!
March 11th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
…ehhh… …image 2 is of a different building, no? …funny how an office can make such a mistake… …amazing… …context is ignored to the extent that buildings become interchangeable… …and despite this obvious aversion to the relevance of context, the marketing narrative is always location specific and completely generic… …the same conference/holiday/culture destination to spur local economic development…
…these hadid projects are spawning around the planet like some sort of biological infestation… …one day we’ll find out that it’s all being generated by some highly evolved genetic algorithm… …and that she finally fired the entire studio once and for all… …no need for humans… …the software is all that matters anyway… …and it can finally drive itself…
…if it wasn’t all so gruesomely poetic, I’d hate it… …but when you know that everything is proceeding exactly as intended, it’s hard not to appreciate the dark, sinister beauty of it all… …like being invaded by an alien civilization so much more advanced than our own, we can’t help but smile at the beauty of our own demise…
March 11th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
I see a current Niemeyer, literally a White Elephant, as the latest works of the master
March 11th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
what a fancy skateboard park!
March 11th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Sorry, but this is maybe the worst piece of “architecture” I have ever seen. No context and attention to anything. Just super-expansive, super-something und super ugly looking. To all “zaha-lovers”. Please please tell me just one advantage this building or this “design” has! Just one.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:02 am
this will surely change the boring architecture of Jesolo.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:39 am
agree with Tyler, apart from the last ridicolous paragraph
this building is not a good idea.
March 12th, 2010 at 1:20 am
enough zahahahahadidigital form
March 12th, 2010 at 1:23 am
starwars!
March 12th, 2010 at 1:39 am
H.O.T.
March 12th, 2010 at 1:43 am
haha, i think you’ve deliberately dropped a different project in there to see if we would notice. The sad truth is that Zaha’s projects do indeed look all the same now. Almost grotesque these days …
March 12th, 2010 at 2:39 am
I’m sure this has been published before, not on dezeen but a few months ago?
Looks alright but again its really nothing more than another Zaha landmark project for an unknown town somewhere we don’t really care about that’s looking for an identity.
Is Zaha spreading herself too thinly? pardon the pun.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:03 am
Hey, look, it’s the Three Bananas Building.
Now, seriously, what is Hadid about? What does this building mean? And what kind of spaces does it have? The ones it creates on the outside don’t look too interesting… (what happens in the intersection between the leftmost banana and the huge beef rib thing? It looks very awkward…)
March 12th, 2010 at 3:31 am
is the second render a mistake render that shouldn’t be in there….anyway zaha i missed you!it’s been a while..
March 12th, 2010 at 4:01 am
I agree, Hadid has some amazing designs which are exciting, ignoring context isn’t the biggest problem but honestly architecture needs to start being designed from the users perspective, models aren’t accurate, cad is infinite and hand renderings are imaginary. If you are going to use these pick which one best reflects the users perspective-which is not 400m above the building.
This is an exceptionally expensive and creative lie.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:36 am
Beautiful sculpture, I’m for the experimentation, and for those who say it’s out of context I would disagree, I see a continuity to the region and the landscape. However, its position in the landscape and site plan looks like its going to function more like a drive-to theme park/ shopping mall than a part of Jesolo.
March 12th, 2010 at 7:27 am
made me laugh that a different project accidentally slipped in there, picture 2 is looks suspiciously like a different building altogether but yeah, very similar… ha
…and I am with Tim, if all the visuals show the building from helicopter, then maybe the visitor hasn’t even been considered…
‘Here’s an amazing shape, let someone else figure out how to fit shops, bars and restaurants inside in a way that makes it an enjoyable experience for the visiting family.’
March 12th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Sorry Zaha, please flush it, wipe off and start over…
March 12th, 2010 at 7:41 am
@ Matthias & Tyler
My sentiments exactly. The “concept” in these things this office is pooping out recently is almost always some facile, disingenuous metaphor to some local “thing.” I believe they just had a press release about a project in Jordan that was “inspired by the eroded forms of Petra,” aaaand it was another blob, albeit one encased in a box.
March 12th, 2010 at 8:21 am
These arbitrary curved forms are fine at model scale, but try and reproduce them at 1:1 and you start to run into trouble with the quality of finish very quickly, I just hope the client realizes they aren’t going to get what they are being shown in these images but a rough approximaion that struggle to disguise its faults, stain horribly overtime and look dated in a matter of years.
March 12th, 2010 at 8:36 am
Amazing form and 3d graphics.. but it ends there. No respect for context, superbly out of scale, super ugly… sections reveal long linear slabs (no play of volumes) except for roof profile, which the office is so good at; plans show boxical areas fitted into ‘dynamic’ and ‘fluid’ design… poor rendering, no interior views show no consideration for spatial quality… I’m very happy to see so many here reject this design..
March 12th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Well…looks good to me on screen. Not quite sure if it reminds me of a squid or the spread out guts of something, but It appeals to me and I just love the patterns for light to filter through. I can visualize it from the inside. :)
March 12th, 2010 at 8:50 am
it always amuses me to see how the interior configuration of blobs are broken down into orthogonal boxes….
March 12th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Looks like Nike advertisement….
March 12th, 2010 at 10:22 am
aaahhh, once i really was a slave to hadid’s work, but what is she doing now??? imo this piece of “architecture” looks like two corpulating aliens….
it’s a shame what happened to your great work, mrs. hadid… you better should go back to your start and and study malewitsch again!!!
such a cruel ^^ but really a nice skatepark!!!
March 12th, 2010 at 10:37 am
I found second rendering more interesting and somehow works better with the surrounded landscape. I guess Zaha and Patrick becoming too lazy to see that the project could be anywhere else , and for me this shapes doesnt work with the landscpae and venice environment. This project is for Dubai or middle East.
Where is Zaha of 90s….?
March 12th, 2010 at 10:51 am
its ok to have different stuff, but seems kind of irresponsible to propose this spaceship during an economical crisis, just reminds us how disconnected starchitects can get from the real world sometimes
im just waiting until i get older hoping the next generation will be more concious about quality… but i m jut loosing any hope…
March 12th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Nice
Obviously very similar to what she has designed in the past – and will design in the future..but she’s getting the work, so good for her
As for the comment – ‘Take it back to the Middle East’ – lame
March 12th, 2010 at 11:33 am
poor adjacent houses…imagine u have to live next to that monster…
sorry but…..NO !
March 12th, 2010 at 11:47 am
It’s a white galactic turd!
March 12th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Hi all, thanks for pointing out the stray image of another project, we’ve removed it now!
March 12th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Wow what a world we live in! How our civilisation has evolved, it shows how technically avanced we have become and how far behind we are in other aspects of life , I guess somebody had to do it.
March 12th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
“congress center” …heh-heh-heh
March 12th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
welcome to Macy’s!
March 12th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
futuristically flacid, and contextually out it seems.
we need zaha, she always sparks a debate.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Looks like a normal shaped building that just got infected by THE THING!
March 12th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
May the force be with Zaha. Because she’s going to need couple of Jedi to construct this building. And where are the interior renderings? It would look cool on a shel as a speaker or something, but come on you are making a building foe christ sake. I don’t know it’s my opinion but some of the “superstar” architects should only design jewelery or spaceships for movies.
March 12th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Architects always hide behind their computers and toy around with 3d tools and come out with all sorts of chlidish crap they call grand designs. I give it to builders & engineers that are always making their ego a reality. Dump those tools and sketch and you will see real creativity, computers is making architects lazy and that is what is responsible for all these rubbish.
March 12th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Oh! Zaha….
March 13th, 2010 at 3:55 am
Wonderful as a debate in the broadest sense of the word, not too pleasing as a building. Way too brutal and I wonder how it will age even by 2014 as a design – not too well perhaps? The Maxxi on the other hand is spectacular.
March 13th, 2010 at 9:03 am
land scape is unique though.
March 13th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
those little houses with slope roof just behind white monster are realy funky, also the parking all around…..
March 13th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
zaha made people talk about what she does.. and like she cares what youve said.. its zaha.. if people wants her design… then its there… in respect… these so called star architects will have demand all over because it transforms a certain context into something else… some would call the bilbao effect… where gehry building offers 5000 new jobs and attract people to visit the never once heard place… zaha needs to stand out of the most because shes a women.. and we all naive people complains here and there.. and what have we done in reality?… go read more books.. and learn computer shits… and build something real… then you can judge this people… they deserve it
March 13th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
ads: I don’t think the people you’re critizising are representative of architects or architecture, to be honest.
March 14th, 2010 at 8:46 am
The way this building touches the ground bothers me. As the three twisted bananas reach the ground they simply collide with each other. The grey paving splattered around it… well, nice try. but no. not happening.
I do like the main entrance – how it’s lifted, like webbing between a frog’s toes, to orchestrate a plaza. For some reason I felt it should happen on the other elevation though, or both. The street-facing elevation is very back of house looking right now. Looks like Zaha’s CoDE team is going to be kept busy for a while on the facade? corian? :)
March 14th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Would be nice if it were a bit more translucent with more openings or EFT or something. Feel sorry for the contractor, hope they like a challenge.
March 14th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
too much money for a “nike” building!
this is a “please don’t build” project…
March 14th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Would we need helicopters and flying saucers to enjoy this “Miracle of Humanity” ?
March 14th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Quick lets raise an army….. Venice is under attack
March 15th, 2010 at 7:14 am
its nice when its strange and its more nice when evvry body dont like …
March 15th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Architecture these days became too much affected by Rhino and Maya. I don’t see anything special about this building, jus one more Maya exercize. And it need a lotof work to look like a building.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Well I dnt understand this …if this a competition design slated for 2014, why has it been made public already.
Also this is one hadid project where i dnt see any internal views???!!
March 16th, 2010 at 10:35 am
i simply don’t get it, it’s pure 3d masturbation, it’s that what we need?
useless!
March 16th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
One has to wonder if ZAHA has paired up with NIKE.
March 16th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Good observation Zaedrus.
March 16th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
to me it´s absolutely childish to criticize architectural designs based on the tools which were used. tools are tools – or should i blame the use of pens in general when disliking a boxy design? so please – dont´t judge designs by criticizing the use of softwares in general, or maya and rhino in particular.
still i have to admit that i also dislike this design, although i appreciated her contribution to architecture for a long time.
some time ago one joked that the copycats of mario botta in the end became better than he himself…at lest this design makes me feel the same way about zaha: the composition of the buildingvolumes just doesn´t seem consistent to me, it seems pretty bold compared to other works of her…let alone the way how the masses deal with the context, although this is usually one of her designs strongest features. the design of the outer skin is alo pretty poor, imagine walking along one of the two bigger volumes without any articulation whatsoever
March 17th, 2010 at 5:40 am
I made a shape like that in my toilet bowl this morning…
March 17th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
This truly is a website for h8rs, and for that alone, I love it.
I hate the excesses of starchitecture as much as the next person, but the sheer animus against this building seems to be precluding the ability to ever take any chances.
March 19th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
there are some moments in the design that are rally cool to focus on, covering part of the renders helps a lot. Once you pay attention to scale and context the whole thing falls apart. The question really isn’t if it can be built, it’s would you, Zaha, like it as much once it is.
March 20th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Quote: “Jesolo is one of Italy’s most established seaside resorts and the design of Jesolo Magica makes full advantage of its location near the Venice Lagoon.”
Where are the glazing? No views out? Like an enclosed casino/ shopping mall that gives you no indication of day or night?
March 22nd, 2010 at 2:27 pm
what i concern about is whether we should apply a new material to replace concrete or other building materials are being used, otherwise we will not make a real architectural breakthrough. Just as the emergence of steel,new materials led to a construction progress and change.
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:42 am
This is not architecture. Where is soul, meaning and form resultant of programme? Is this really the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light? or an amemic version of ghostbusters slimer? This among other of Zahas recent outpouring is surely symptomatic of our obsession with image without knowing (or caring!) about the real meaning. We are breaking new ground here; in architectural apathy.
March 25th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
what’s up with the SWOOOOOOOOPY architecture? it’s time for evolution, ZAHA!
March 25th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
Only an inform mass… no real connection to the sorrunding city… only connection to parking lots… look at all those drawings… there isn’t no urban scale drawings…. no sustainable at all level social, enviromental and even energetic.. no solar collection or protection… this is definitely a very bad project that don’t take care of future development instead of what they say… i’m so disappointed that the public administration of Jesolo is approving a so bad project…
March 25th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Hadid meets H R Giger – sort of.
I’m beginning to think with Zaha the words ‘pony’, ‘one’ & ‘trick’….
March 25th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
what happens when zaha’s ‘entrails’ turn brown? architectonic cancer? honestly, how does this move the profession forward? many questions, but this deflated mass certainly holds few answers.
March 25th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Another egocentric project of Zaha! What else…..?
March 25th, 2010 at 4:38 pm
It looks like a giant car engine cover!
March 25th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
This Lady should join Frank Gehry in a spaceship and be sent to Mars (One Way Ticket)… This is not architecture! Architecture is creating space, environments, atmospheres for the human being.
March 25th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Let’s not praise car-centric architecture. With these random shapes, why wasn’t parking incorporated into the structure?
March 25th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
@ Railroad:
“Sorry, but this is maybe the worst piece of “architecture” I have ever seen. No context and attention to anything. Just super-expansive, super-something und super ugly looking. To all “zaha-lovers”. Please please tell me just one advantage this building or this “design” has! Just one.”
I find it very intriguing. It is not typical architecture in any sense, is it? Yet it does create an organic form/space. Although I”d love to see the inside, so far I think it’s fascinating, and it reveals ZH’s non-conformist views for sure. Zaha Hadid is– obviously– not afraid to show the world what is truly in that brain and I salute her for that.
March 25th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
could you imagine this building in brown?
March 25th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
How does anyone get Planning Permission for something like that??!!
Big name? Oh that’ll do nicely
March 25th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Squeezed out toothpaste? Amazing!
Love your work.
March 25th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Looks snakey and stylish. I’d rather like to see it in a urban context. Great texture!
March 25th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
This woman is a real artist!
March 26th, 2010 at 12:23 am
The holes in the walls remind me of CRT monitors.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:51 am
seems more or less one-sided take on the project…so here are few questions on questions that have been posted…more to open a more balanced take on digital issues…
(this is not architecture)…posted few times…so what exactly is architecture ? do we have a code-book that defines the rules ? or are we supposed to believe what happened in last 50 years to define architecture ? as a composition of boxes and straight lines..? what makes this less of an architecture than utzon’s opera house ? …which in my opinion is as much out of context as this project.
(Architecture is creating space, environments, atmospheres for the human being)…who defines what is appropriate for human beings…? are humans limited to rectangles and squares ? if so, then why are we so geometrically tight-fisted ? the adoption of 90 deg made sense because it represented an architectural representation of the modern aesthetics coupled with industrial logic of mass-production… technology now has moved on…and has increased the architectural pallette…so why are we so skeptical of this new (or really an old) language ?
(Once you pay attention to scale and context the whole thing falls apart)…how much of the scale is really in an arhcitect’s hand…i will admit a lot can be achieved with a play of masses, but if it is a progrmatic requirement and the codes permit it will result in a large-scale project…, is it the fault of the architect ? … what about foster’s zero city in the middle of a desert ? i am sure it was not his idea…it really is “a” solution to a project that the client created…
most of the reactions are towards the aesthetics of forms…which i admit is not one her best projects, but then we should critique just the aesthetics, instead of the technology, which is just a tool, and space, environments, atmospheres, which may turn out to be stunning, onlything missing are few sections or internal views.
March 26th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Fun! Creates emotion and controversy. Well done. Would love to see the roof spaces being used for recreational and observation of its surroundings d;-)
April 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Absolutely stunning reminds me of Algea washed up on a beach.
Considering the flat area around Venice, Jesolo is really “NOT” your average pretty landscape. Agree with “Jetwax”
I think some sunken top terrace walk for in’r outdoors with a view would be a great asset. Could be roofed with extrapolated shape of the current roof then stretched a few feet to overlap leaving a comfortable space for viewing and keeping things dry or if behind glass away from the elements
The smoothness and texture is stunning but I could see some sunken islands platforms sunken grown , shrubs, blooming vines become part of the natural environment over time (in a controlled manner).
coming down like lava like trails of greenery.
Staircases for maintenance could flank these plant trails where the steps match the current round light features .
Zara is definitely a woman that pushes the boundaries. I always look forward to her next new shape. BUT yes there is a BUT.
1st Lido di Jesolo is a really CRAP place that reflects all that is as UGLY in some Adriatic Italian seaside resort as it is pretty on the Mediterranean
and it is a slap in the face for Venice as it takes not the slightest inspiration from the “grandeur ” of its past and existence. So all in all it’s the best of NON Italian Design.
Would be interesting to have an online opportunity to compare “REconceptualized” works from other Visualisers and Architects to
April 9th, 2010 at 10:14 am
I think it’s time Zaha goes back to the drawing board and produces what she does best…amaizing architecture. A lot of people, me included, are getting fed up to see the nonsense Schumacher makes!!!
April 18th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
It’s completely fascinating to read through the multiplicity of completely ignorant comments here. There’s such an antiquated overtone of resentment towards a single work, as if it’s imposed some severe injury to this group of people. I’m not above being highly critical of a work, but it might be fruitful to meter your opinions with a degree of rational though.
Just to address some obvious misconceptions:
- work like this is never just ‘handed-off’ to the contractor like a budget project, but rather is an involved collaboration between architect and contractor. it takes a high level of competence by both parties to achieve the desired result – a well built project.
- none of this is produced by ‘maya’ or ‘rhino’. the form is produced by highly skilled individuals using maya or rhino. making such statements show either envy or ignorance or both.
- new architecture is not discovered or enabled by embracing convention
- work that pushes boundaries of the possible and expected creates new possibilities for the entire profession – look at the wonders that resulted from gehry’s crumpled paper.
I’m not proclaiming the work to be phenomenal – but one can’t really evaluate such things from a set of renderings. At the end of the day if the client and architect are happy with the design, why are people so hurt? Would it be less intimidating if it were a retro-modernist glass box coated with louvers?
April 29th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
fantastic – now build it out of 100% recycled and recyclable materials
May 7th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
baby u are so sexy
June 6th, 2010 at 4:34 am
OMG guys! firstly, the renders DO show elevations (which are supposedly what users would see), and secondly, it DOES fit into its surrounding context and its landscape… please don’t perpetuate negative energy out of your own whim and jealousy of others… just enjoy what others have to offer…
June 17th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
the most creative arcitect i have ever seen…something out of reality..the best zaha
July 15th, 2010 at 5:38 am
indeed this is a brilliant idea for NIKE…