Working with senior office partner Patrik Schumacher, Hadid's interest lies in the rigorous interface between architecture, landscape, and geology as her practice integrates natural topography and human-made systems, leading to experimentation with cutting-edge technologies. Such a process often results in unexpected and dynamic architectural forms.
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Zaha Hadid Architects continues to be a global leader in pioneering research and design investigation. Collaborations with corporations that lead their industries have advanced the practice’s diversity and knowledge, whilst the implementation of state-of-the-art technologies have aided the realization of fluid, dynamic and therefore complex architectural structures.

'The winning architect describes her design as Suprematist Geology. First, she proposes that the ground be leveled to the site's lowest point and then rebuilt from the excavated rock as a polished granite mountain. The building itself is composed of four beams , stacked atop one another in a splayed arrangement. Partially embeded, the two lowest layers contain 15 studio units and 20 apartments, forming a podium for the club facilities. A void approximately 42 feet high separates these strata from the two uppermost levels, which house the larger apartments and the developer's penthouse. Suspended within the void like hovering spaceships are the club elements,  which extend back into the man-made mountain. The series of floating ramps and platforms that articulate this space are supported by two vertical members, an elevator, and a steel truss containing services. 
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Two elevators linking the clubs to the upper residential zone provide additional support and a vertical counterpoint to the horizontal composition. Stress cables stabilize any other movement among the floating horizontal members of the void. The swimming pool rests in the roof of the second residential layer. Lateral changing rooms are hollow square beams in section, and act to stiffen the structure. The enire complex is constructed of steel and reinforced concrete. All volumes suspended in the club area are framed in lightweight alloys with aluminum or stone cladding. Although the jurors faulted the winning design for a ''certain lack of resolution in its details,'' they praised its concentration ''on the exploration'' of ideas... The sculptural nature of this solution,'' they averred ''promises to extend the imagination and symbolize the essence of a new building type in a unique location.'
*excerpt from Architectural Record, Sept 1983

'At a time of highly referenced thinking often reaching back into antiquity, it has as its referencethe 1920 supremacist philosophy and streches the imagination well beyond normal bounds ' is how the jury for the international Hong Kong Peak competition describe the first prize-winning scheme by Zaha Hadid. Attracting over 500 entries, the object of this single-stage competition was to provide a gentleman's club and meeting place on a prominent 6100 m² site in a 'development of considerable luxury... an oustanding example of architectural achievement... and a visible landmark.' Hadid, who practicies and teaches in London , is to receive 100 000 US $ in prize money for her design, which she describes as 'a horizontal skyscraper' portending 'a new kind of modernism'. She hopes building work will go ahead as soon as possible. Sponsored jointly by the International Union of Architects and the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, and promoted by OLS Holdings Ltd, the competition was judged by a panel chaired by John Andrews from Australia. 
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Barrington Charles Marshall of Melbourne won the 60 000 US $ second prize. Joint third prize of 40 000 US $ will be divided between Edmund Baylon Burke from Dublin and John S. Hagmann with David H. Mitchell from the US. of steel and reinforced concrete. All volumes suspended in the club area are framed in lightweight alloys with aluminum or stone cladding. Although the jurors faulted the winning design for a ''certain lack of resolution in its details,'' they praised its concentration ''on the exploration'' of ideas... The sculptural nature of this solution,'' they averred ''promises to extend the imagination and symbolize the essence of a new building type in a unique location.''

Alejandro Zaera-Polo is an architect, theorist, lecturer and founder of London and Barcelona-based Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture  (AZPA).  Together with Farshid Moussavi he founded in London Foreign Office Architects in 1995. Following FOA's demerger, he started AZPA in May 2011. Alejandro Zaera Polo’s practice has produced critically acclaimed and award winning projects for the public and private sector on an international scale. He favours a pragmatic approach, embracing technical rigor in a search towards a complex and organic architecture which unfolds through a broad variety of locations and typologies.
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Besides his architectural work Alejandro Zaera Polo occupies currently the Berlage Chair in the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands. Prior to this current role at the TU in Delft, he has been for four years the Dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, until 2005. Previously he has been also Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, and a Visiting Professor at the University of California in LA, Columbia University in New York, Princeton University, the School of Architecture in Madrid and the Yokohama School of architecture where he currently has an advisory role. He has also been an advisor to several committees, such as the Quality Commission for Architecture in Barcelona City and the advisory Committee for Urban Development of the City of Madrid and is a member of the Urban Age Think Tank of the London School of Economics. Has published extensively as a critic in professional magazines worldwide. El Croquis, Quaderns, A+U, Arch+, Harvard Design Magazine amongst them, and contributed to numerous publications, such as The Endless City curated by Ricky Burdett and Dejan Sudjic.

Yokohama International Port Terminal is a very important institution for the international friendship to give the passengers the first impression of Japan. In addition, it is a usual amenity spot for the citizen as a port of their waterfront. In order to make these situations clear, the concept '' Niwaminato'' has been set up for the institution. ''Niwaminato'' consists of two different meanings for the passengers who visit Japan through Yokohama and its citizens. That is to say, the passengers visit Yokohama from the sea enjoying the scenery of the port like a garden. 
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The view of the grand pier from the sea makes their expectation of landing much higher. And they can enjoy the sense of travel different from that of the airports through the intimate space of the Osanbashi pier. ''Niwaminato'' values the first impression which sways the image of the country. On the other hand, the citizens of Yokohama are proud of the international port in Yokohama. And moreover its waterfront is a usual amenity place for them. They also enjoy ''Niwaminato'' at the different point from the passengers'. ''Niwaminato'' consists of these different meanings. Hereafter only the image for the port can never work well. ‘’Niwaminato’’, which will create the future, is made up of the series of different factors influenced each other.

Ricardo Scofidio, RA, attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture and received a Bachelor of Architecture from Columbia University. Mr. Scofidio is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cooper Union.
Charles Renfro, RA, attended Rice University and received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. Mr. Renfro has served as visiting professor at Rice and Columbia University.
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Among the various projects of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s international body of work: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, including the redesign of Alice Tully Hall, the renovation and expansion of The Juilliard School, the Hypar Pavilion Lawn and Restaurant, the expansion of the School of American Ballet, renovations to the New York State Theater Lobby, the canopy entry to Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, as well as public spaces throughout the campus, Information Landscape, and a pedestrian bridge (currently in construction). Phases 1 and 2 of the High Line, an urban park situated on an obsolete elevated railway stretching 1.5 miles long through the Chelsea area of New York City, were completed in 2009 and 2011, respectively. The Creative Arts Center for Brown University opened in February 2011.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro completed the Institute of Contemporary Art in 2006, the first new museum to be built in Boston in 100 years. Slither, a housing complex in Gifu, Japan was completed in 2003 and Blur, a pavilion commissioned by the Swiss Expo, was completed in 2002.

Projects in construction or in design include: the Broad Art Museum in Los Angeles; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley; the new Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York City; the Museum of Image & Sound on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; Culture Shed in New York City; the Dongguan Factory Complex in Shenzhen, China; the new Stanford University Art & Art History Building; the City Garden public park and cultural center in Aberdeen, Scotland; and the ‘Bubble’ for the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall in Washington D.C.

Installation and performance projects recently completed include Open House (in collaboration with Droog), How Wine Became Modern for SFMOMA, Be Your Self with the Australian Dance Theatre, the Terre Natale exhibition accompanying the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen, Traveling Music for Evento 2009 in Bordeaux, Chain City for the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th International Architecture Exhibition, Arbores Laetae for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial, Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? for the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Turin, and Action Painting for the Beyeler Museum in Basel.

World's Fair pavilions exist to showcase innovation. At the service of corporate, institutional or governmental entities, they typically foreground technological advancements or philanthropic largess. In the best of cases, they address both. Blur had neither and was the result of nothing: no program, no functional requirements, no size definition, no site mandates, no occupancy targets or public flow rates. The program was a series of words and phrases based in the counter culture of the 70s: love, me and the universe, altered states etc.
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Similarly, our response was intent on delivering nothing. We gave the site back to itself disguised as architecture. In the 'cafe', visitors could drink the building (and thus the site) in the form of packaged water.  Instead of a media rich, high definition visual environment, upon entering blur, one can see nothing and hear nothing. The sound of the building being perpetually remade through 30,000 high-pressure fog nozzles was dominant. Vision was foregrounded as the paramount sense through its repression.

It is too soon to know whether Blur was a barometer of early 21st Century sentiment or a neutral response to the conditions of the site.  The lack of program allowed us to make our own which had nothing to do with a World's Fair and everything to do with our own practice. It allowed Diller and Scofidio to bridge the worlds of high art, installation art, and architecture, continue to research threads significant to the practice at the same time it presaged the change of the firm name from D+S to DS+R
by Charles Renfro

Preamble: Association Expo 2001 has been charged by the Confederation with the task of organizing a national exhibition, Expo.01, intended not only as a laboratory for ideas but also a great festival of the imagination and emotion. It is scheduled to take place from 3 May to 29 October 2001 and will be held in western Switzerland at sites in four towns and three lakes. Five cantons are taking part: Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Neuchatel, and Vaud. Expo.01 will be sited on four arteplages (art beaches) located in Bienne, Morat, Neuchatel, and Yverdon-les-Bains. In addition, there will be a floating arteplage for the canton of Jura that roams from lake to lake. The four lakeshore arteplages will consist of an Expopark onshore and a forum on the lake.
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A concept bursting with ideas: Expo.01 takes a searching look into the future. What lies ahead for our society, state, and economy in the new millennium? What changes will affect our lives and our environment? These questions will be explored by focusing on a number of juxtapositions: '' Power and Freedom'' at Biel-Bienne, '''Moment and Eternity'' at Murten-Morat, ''Nature and Artificiality'' at Neuchatel, '' I and Universe'' at Yverdon-les-Bains, and ''Meaning and Movement'' at the mobile arteplage of Jura. Within these overall juxtapositions, each arteplage offers matters of concern to our society for years to come.

The infrastructure: Built with the future in mind, Expo.01 aims to leave lasting cultural, social, and economic marks. It whishes to take into account the need for discussion about new ethical and moral standards, a new collective code of conduct, and innovative approaches to spiritual experience. The exhibition brings the visitor into a universe of five worlds, linked by common themes, juxtapositions, associations and questions. Each arteplage constitutes a world in itself, distinct from the others in form and content, character, mood, and color, a sense reinforced by sounds specific to each forum. One common thread is a strong attachment to the water. The corso, a theme trail leading from the railway stations and parking areas to the arteplages, serves to get visitors attuned to the spirit of Expo.01. Awaiting them on arrival are events, an extraordinary selection of foods, and the welcoming embrace of modular hotels. At the heart of each arteplage is the forum, a structure harmoniously blending high-tech design and environmental awareness. This is the focus for experiences far transcending the humdrum routines of everyday life. Here, the topics and themes invite visitors to dream and marvel, and to discuss and experiment. Visitors are transported from one arteplage to another by a fleet of IRIS catamarans.

A festival of the imagination: The project is a collective sculpture that seeks to excite the imagination and generate new ideas. It is intended not only to foreground progress but also to ask questions about quality, consequences, and the meaning of progress. To this end, it invents stories and explores the realm lying between the normal and the possible with childlike abandon. Expo.01 encourages flights of fancy, multicultural encounters, and experiences of the senses; it displays bold discoveries, amazing interrelationships, and innovative products; it is punctuated by festivals and events. Expo is a platform for new ideas and new technologies that will live on: products will be developed for Expo, launched at Expo, and then go on to conquer world markets. Sharing in the creation of Expo.01 are thinkers from Switzerland and abroad.