BBC Radio 4 2016-04-02

BBC Radio 4 2016-04-02

Good Morning

Architecture is not unlike any other field such as medicine, science or art. This was the way in which Dame Zaha Hadid described her chosen profession when she guest edited this programme in 2008. Her unexpected death on Thursday after a short illness has robbed the world of a complex and brilliant talent which has yet to be fully appreciated.

Rowan Moore, in a newspaper article a few years ago suggested that “to say she divides opinion is to put it mildly”. Indeed, the plethora of obituaries produced in the past 48 hours have pinpointed stark contrasts and contradictions describing her variously as brave, fearless – a radical trailblazer who often felt misunderstood and didn’t always fit in.

Jane Duncan, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects suggests that Zaha Hadid was “an inspirational woman, and the kind of architect one can only dream of being. Visionary and highly experiential, her legacy despite her young age is formidable.”

Yesterday, I listened again to the recently broadcast edition of Desert Island Discs in which the Iraqui born Dame Zaha was the first woman architect to have been interviewed on that programme in its 74 year history. It’s well worth a listen to because, as well as her surprising choice of music, the listener is treated to a fascinating insight into the thought processes of someone not completely at ease with herself. She has plenty of questions about her role in her own industry, in society and, what she calls the establishment, as she ponders what her legacy will ultimately be.

Dame Zaha may not have known it, but the patron saint of architects is St Thomas – based on the tradition that he was one of the 12 pillars on which Christ built his church. Known for his never ending questioning, his doubt and desire to have things proved to him, he sits pretty well with Dame Zaha’s observation “I’m not outside [of the establishment]. I’m on the edge. I’m dangling there. I quite like it.”

Of course, as our pondering over the collateral damage done to the wonder which was Palmyra confirms, architecture goes back to the very earliest civilisations. There are also plenty of references to plans and patterns, shape and structure and relevant building materials in the books of the bible. We understand how creativity and exactitude has forever been the name of the game for those who conjure up magnificent (and occasionally not so magnificent) creations which fashion our lives.

In the wonderful book of Proverbs there’s a great Hebrew verse which would stand as a brilliant epitaph to the immense and varied portfolio of Dame Zaha Hadid: “By wisdom a house is built. By understanding it is established. And by knowledge the rooms are filled with pleasant and precious riches.”