SotA Anthology 2015-16
Interpeting
architectural images
As part of ARCH321: History and Theory of Architecture,
students review architectural journals, reflecting on the
gap between reality and perceived reality. Dr Marco
Iuliano selected an essay by BA student Sejal Karadia
looking at two issues of Architectural Review (from
1991 and 2014) featuring Zaha Hadid’s work.
An image can be replaced
by a thousand words. Just
as with a novel, when the
opening scene is set and
the characters are glven
their
personalities,
our
minds immediately form the
space in which this nonexistent world can carry out
the story.
Many architectural views
are subject to the many
magazines we encounter;
we cannot critically analyse
them
through personal
interaction with architecture
but through a 2D image.
Technology has advanced
dramatically, we are much
more connected to the rest
of the world. However, with
information at the tip of
our fingers and magazines
available so readily, we rely
on their interpretations and
critical analysis to direct our
opinions. An ‘architectural
masterpiece’
is,
then,
what these articles tell us.
It is in these magazines,
specifically
‘Architectural
Review’ (the journal that
I plan to analyse), that the
architecture of the time is
considered to be of some
architectural merit. I look at
how we can be influenced
by the way in which their
images are presented when
juxtaposed with the text,
how this speaks to readers,
and then ultimately affects
the image of architecture.
Whether shown as a plan,
sketch, text or image, the
architecture shown in the
magazine is only denoted,
therefore we are given a
personal account which
is very much different
from
experiencing
the
space physically; all these
mediums work differently
in the way they are made,
yet are typically mistaken
as the same. “But the
drawing is not a metaphor
for an absent building. It is
an essential and persistent
element in the culture of
architecture, and a means
of portraying what John
Hejduk called its ‘state of
mind,’ (Olsberg, 2013).
The image, plans, and
text are ways in which this
absent building is shown
in a manner in which
architecture can become
a building; the methods of
representing architecture
should be treated as a
different entity to the actual
space, which is something
that most architects today
seem to forget.
It has only been in recent
years that other methods of
representation have been
founded. Something which
was once a very simple way
of explaining architecture
has now been complicated
and misinterpreted, leading
to architecture and design
being interpreted differently.
Being a very different
architect of her time, and
having been exploited the
most, Zaha Hadid has made
herself attractive to the world
of 2D representation, where
the image rules and where
many architects look to as
their Bible. Hadid is known
for the aesthetics of the
outer shell of her buildings,
but this has not always
been the case. Typically
in architecture, once the
seeds have been sown by
the magazines - once they
have told their readers what
is fashionable next season
- architects are stereotyped
and tend to follow that path;
the traditional values of their
practice become lost.
I will look at the two periods
of her architecture, from her
first physical project to the
most popular buillding to
date; the way in which her
work has been perceived and