Zaha Hadid’s Pierre Vives Building Nearing Completion

Architizer News

Zaha Hadid’s Pierre Vives Building Nearing Completion

September 22, 2011

Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid is having a good year. The Guangzhou Opera House opened this past March and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, in June. The London Aquatics Center–her first large-scale building in her native country–was completed this past summer, while her practice has announced several new projects for Beijing, London, Morocco, and Iraq. Hadid herself was bestowed with multiple honors, having been appointed Commandeur(euse?) de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Republic, selected as member of the Pritzker Prize jury, and shortlisted for what would be her second Stirling Prize. She will ring in the coming year with the completion and opening of her Pierres Vives, a new iconic government building complex in Montepelier. More after the jump!

Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects

Hadid began designing Pierres Vives, which translates to “living stones,” nearly a decade ago, yet her vision has been maintained. In her designs, she placed the giant ship of the building at the center of an eponymous new urban district. The 28, 500-square-meter stone monolith houses various regional departments and facilities, including archives, a library, a sports center, and offices. On her firm’s site, Hadid likens the form to a “‘tree of knowledge’ with three institutions unified within a single envelope.” She elaborated on the metaphor in an article published by the Le Moniteur, describing the core of the complex as a “tree trunk” from which different programmatic spaces branch.

“The Wave” Photo: département de l’Hérault/ Le Moniteur

The interiors are characterized by undulating floors and ceilings,which concurrently blend and partition space. A 400-square-meter “wave” runs through the building’s center, a vortex of bifurcating walls and floors. Pierres Vives is scheduled to open next year. More construction photos below, via A Daily Dose of Architecture.