For those of you that prefer your 21st century to actually feel like “the future”, this new project by Zaha Hadid Architects firmly scratches that itch.
Designed for Chinese company OPPO back in 2020, the fluid glass shaped headquarters is approaching completion, and will truly stand apart when finished.
The new Shenzhen headquarters will serve as a vertical campus instead of a typical tower.
Four sleek, interconnected high-rises rise nearly 200 meters, linked by sky bridges and a soaring 20-storey atrium that feels more like a sci-fi canyon than an office lobby.
OPPO gets flexible, column-free floor plates, panoramic views, and open circulation that encourages movement and chance encounters.
The structure blends workplace, public plaza, and city landmark into one fluid form. It feels less like a building and more like a glimpse at how future tech companies might live and work.
This New Airport Redefines What Global Infrastructure Can Look Like
Construction has begun on Bishoftu International Airport, a landmark infrastructure project that stands among the most ambitious developments underway anywhere in Africa.
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the airport signals a defining moment for Ethiopia’s future and for the continent’s growing role in global aviation.
Situated about 40 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa, Bishoftu International Airport is envisioned as Ethiopia’s primary international gateway for decades to come.
It responds to rapid growth in air travel across Africa while positioning the country as a central connector between Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Once fully realized, the airport is expected to handle up to 110 million passengers annually, making it the largest airport on the continent by capacity.
Even its first phase, planned to open around 2030, is designed for roughly 60 million passengers per year, a scale that places it immediately among the world’s most significant aviation hubs.
The terminal’s design emphasizes dignity, efficiency, and calm. A clear central spine organizes movement through the building, reducing transfer times for long haul travelers while maintaining intuitive wayfinding.
Gardens, outdoor courtyards, and a 350 room airside hotel are integrated into the plan, offering rest and reflection within a space that must serve millions of people moving at speed.
The architecture draws deeply from Ethiopia’s landscapes and cultural identity. Its forms and material language reference regional geographies, including the nearby Great Rift Valley, grounding the project in its physical and cultural context rather than relying on a generic global aesthetic.
Environmental performance is central to the design. Passive ventilation, solar shading, renewable energy systems, and climate responsive water strategies are embedded throughout the project, aligning long term operational efficiency with local environmental realities.
Bishoftu International Airport is more than a transportation upgrade. It represents confidence, investment, and vision at a continental scale.
As one of Africa’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects, it reflects a future in which African cities shape global movement, design, and ambition on their own terms.
The new Yidan Center in Shenzhen is not the usual glass box with a mission statement attached.
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, it rises like something carved by water and time, a fluid form that seems to flow rather than stand still.
It will house the Chen Yidan Foundation and the Yidan Prize, both focused on reshaping global education, but the architecture speaks louder than any plaque or press release.
Below we see the building topping out in construction, and the dramatic, undulating balconies that are a Zaha Hadid design signature.
The building is shaped around openness. Dozens of elevated terraces step like worn stone paths, an internal courtyard runs like a canyon of light, and the edges blur between indoors and out.
The drama of the building’s curves are evident in this rendering.
Visitors travel through light-filled spaces that encourage people to meet, talk, argue, rethink. The place feels active rather than static, closer to a research trip or a climb than an office building.
Despite its sculptural presence, there is careful practicality. The atrium pulls daylight deep into the core. The skin of the building manages shade and air, reducing the need for heavy cooling.
Solar panels and hybrid ventilation support its LEED Gold goals. The sustainability is embedded within the DNA of the building itself.
What stands out is the symbolism. Most charity headquarters are polite, quiet, and forgettable. The Yidan Center chooses to be bold.
It suggests that education is a living force worth celebrating. What if our ideas should move, stretch, and change shape, just like the structure itself?
It is refreshing to see architecture like this take a stance.
We were huge fans of Zaha Hadid, and the futuristic take she put on the world of architecture and design before her death. Luckily her firm lives on, continuing to create amazing buildings, sculptures, and designs in her style.
The Minera table is a great example of that work, a stunning piece of Carrera marble turned into a sinewy, futuristic form. Carved from a single piece of marble, it shows real craftsmanship and design in one fell swoop.
Made by Neutra Design out of Italy, the table’s continuous shape, swooping lines, and unexpected presence make it a showstopper of a piece.
Limited to just eight pieces, the Minera table is part of Zaha Hadid Architect’s Erosion collection.
“MINERA redefines the traditional dining table, emerging as a continuity of form that unites divergent forces with precision in craftsmanship. Its fluid forms expressing the erosive forces of nature are skilfully carved by NEUTRA from a single block of marble. Accommodating up to eight people, (320X160x72 cm) the MINERA Table is available as an exclusive limited edition of eight pieces. “
Zaha Hadid’s architecture has forever left a mark on the world of buildings, but her firm’s work continues to make waves, this time in the form of fashion. ZHA’s newest H-Line hat is designed especially for a hat-themed party for New York City’s High Line park.
The sinuous hat design has a rounded front, and comes to a dramatic peak at the back, showcasing the promise of 3D printed objects. The hat’s design was part of a larger celebration, commemorating the completion of Zaha Hadid’s dramatic 520 West 28th project, a sleek and futuristic building adding beauty to New York’s skyline.
Famed architect Zaha Hadid made an impactful, futuristic mark on the world before her life ended too soon.
Her work designing skyscrapers, stadiums, public spaces, and museums elevated the world of architecture, and we’re better off because of it. But during her entire career, Hadid only designed two residential properties. One of them is located outside of Moscow, and looks like a combination of a supervillain lair and the USS Enterprise. The only other one on Earth is tucked on a quiet residential street in the Belgravia district of London.
Artfully set back from the cobblestone street, we see the hints of something special, with a white brick facade that feels like it’s been peeled back like a curtain.
Set amongst 19th century Mews homes, the four story, ultra-modern residence was personally designed by Hadid, who had a close relationship with the client.
As you walk into the home, you see the trademark sinewy, futuristic forms that Hadid is known for, featuring sleek, built-in details from a custom curved glass railing, high-performance cast concrete stairs, and rounded glass walls that offer views of the neighborhood.
Soft, built-in lighting, liquid-bronze bar, and a myriad of other custom touches exemplify the home, which had to meet the high standards of the historical neighborhood in which it’s set.
Sadly Zaha Hadid died before this home was completed, and before more residences could be designed.
Read more about this extraordinary design in Architectural Digest, which does a great job walking through the processes needed to create this one-of-a-kind home.
Speaking about why this was one of only two Zaha Hadid homes ever designed:
“This London home is such a little surprise that no one really knows about,” explains Bidisha Sinha, an associate director at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and project manager for the Belgravia dwelling. “Zaha was certainly asked by many people around the globe to design their family home, but I suspect time was the real [limiting] factor.
Famed architect Zaha Hadid may be gone, but the firm she founded lives on, and with it, her legacy of truly amazing architectural projects.
The latest of these is set to get underway in Shenzhen, China. The uber-sleek, organic forms of the towers will reach over 1,200 feet into the air, and are linked by a series of stepped planter levels. True to Hadid’s style, the look of these skyscrapers conjures up futurism and parametricism. Called ‘the Queen of the curve’, the architects that carry on Hadid’s legacy are pushing the boundaries of engineering, creating future landmarks that will define entire cities.
The uninspired “Tower C Development” title should be reconsidered, as these sibling towers deserve a name more fitting their unique profile. As expected, the towers will utilize a host of eco-conscious features, from ample green space to solar collection, as well as water collection and natural ventilation.
Zaha Hadid swung for the fences in the world of design and architecture. Her work always seemed ahead of its time, almost sci-fi, like it came from an alien planet.
She died a few years ago at the peak of her career, which was especially tragic, as women architects of her stature are rare. Luckily, her work will live on for generations, and there are still number of new buildings from her firm that are just opening now.
One of these new openings is the dramatic ‘Opus’ building in Dubai, a sleek glass cube with an organic void that spans the entire center of the structure.
Indeed, the shape is so complex and unique that it’s almost hard to describe, a free-flowing negative space that forms the identity of the structure.
The double glazed glass on the curved surfaces are also embedded with computer-controlled LEDs, creating a one-of-a-kind lighting experience at night.
Home to the ME Dubai Hotel, the building adds to the city’s opulent flair, but with a signature style only Hadid and her team could pull off. Read more about the building’s architectural style and eco-friendly features on Design Boom:
You may have never heard of the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia, but it will soon be home to a stunning concert hall, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Concert Hall is a gorgeous example of form + function, mimicking the physical aspects of sound waves, with dramatic swooping curves and a massive suspended canopy. Home to the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, with a 1,600 seat main performance hall, and a 400 seat chamber music hall, the inspiring architecture should be a landmark for the city for decades to come. Via Uncrate:
Zaha Hadid’s architecture has forever left a mark on the world of buildings, but her firm’s work continues to make waves, this time in the form of fashion. ZHA’s newest H-Line hat is designed especially for a hat-themed party for New York City’s High Line park. The sinuous hat design has a rounded front, and comes to a dramatic peak at the back, showcasing the promise of 3D printed objects. The hat’s design is part of a larger celebration, commemorating the completion of Zaha Hadid’s dramatic 520 West 28th project, a sleek and futuristic building adding beauty to New York’s skyline.
Superstar architect Zaha Hadid died too young, but her life’s work continues to breathe inspiration and life into built spaces around the world. In her work as an architect, she only designed one private residence, a wildly ambitious home outside of Moscow. Just this last week, the home was completed, and it showcases a thoroughly futuristic shape, something that looks like a James Bond lair crossed with the USS Enterprise spaceship. Entitled the Capital Hill Residence, Hadid’s trademark organic undulations are on full display, with a steel and concrete exterior, with giant glass expanses that look out onto an uninterrupted view of forest. Created for the real estate magnate Vladislav Doronin, the home’s dramatic master suite is elevated on a slender column, 66 feet above the ground. Doronin specified that he wanted to wake up with a full view of the sky, making this floating perch a clever (and opulent) solution. Via Dezeen:
The swooping, dramatic form of the home is emblematic of Zaha Hadid’s style, but is exceptionally impressive when applied to a private residence. The owner’s exacting taste and specifications, along with Hadid’s untimely death made this home more than ten years in the making.
In one of the most remarkable pieces of architecture we’ve seen in a long time, the new Antwerp Port Authority building breaks all molds, and moves the design needle. Designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid before her death last year, the building is an enormous faceted glass volume, perched atop the existing former fire station below it. It’s an entirely polarizing form, seemingly out of place in the most obvious manner, yet to us, it screams ingenious, new, daring, and exciting. Developed by her firm, ZHA, the city of Antwerp will be forever changed by this striking addition to the landscape. Via Dezeen:
The old, traditional architecture has been restored but untouched. Above it, the future takes shape, in a daring, sail-like design. Some people may hate it, but we find that architecture that ruffles feathers has often done it’s job well.
“Like the bow of a ship, the new extension points towards the Scheldt, connecting the building with the river on which Antwerp was founded,” said ZHA.
“Surrounded by water, the new extension’s facade is a glazed surface that ripples like waves and reflects the changing tones and colours of the city’s sky.”
The addition allows for 500 employees who were stationed elsewhere to join forces in the main headquarters.
“This perception of a transparent volume, cut to give the new building its sparkling appearance, reinterprets Antwerp’s moniker as the city of diamonds.”
“The new extension appears as a carefully cut form which changes its appearance with the shifting intensity of daylight,” said the firm. “Like the ripples on the surface of the water in the surrounding port, the new facade reflects changing light conditions.”
Zaha Hadid died last year, but left an incredible legacy of fearless, and forward-looking architecture that will last several lifetimes. A tower being built by her firm now is featured in DesignBoom, and showcases some amazing design attributes. Featuring the world’s tallest atrium, at 600 feet (!!), the twisting shape gives movement to this towering building.
When Zaha Hadid unexpectedly died last week, it shocked the architecture world. Her success, her bold designs, and her ambition was rare in the world of design and architecture. Indeed, there are few people in the world who had her futuristic vision for built objects and pushing boundaries. Luckily, she leaves us with a plethora of buildings and projects that are either in construction, or on the drawing table. Below are just a few from her massive catalog. Via Curbed:
Port House Headquarters (Antwerp, Belgium: 2016)
King Abdullah Petroleum Research Centre (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 2016)
King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 2017)
Nanjing International Youth Cultural Centre (Nanjing, China: 2017)
520 West 28th Street (New York City, USA: 2017)
One Thousand Museum Residential Tower (Miami, USA: 2018)
Beijing New Airport Terminal Building (Beijing, China: 2019)
Perched dramatically on the top of Mount Kronplatz in Italy, the Messner Mountain MuseumCorones (MMM) pays tribute to mountaineering and mountain climbing culture, in a most dramatically designed way. Via Architizer:
The decision to bury a large proportion of the exhibition spaces underground brings a degree of subtlety to the juxtaposition between natural and manmade elements; ZHA’s characteristically futuristic forms peak out from the side of the mountain like the proverbial tips of a curvaceous concrete iceberg.
