Zaha Hadid Architects

The Peak

Hong Kong, China
1982–1983

The Peak–Blue Slabs, Painting © Zaha Hadid Architects

PROGRAM:
Leisure Club, International Competition: First Prize

CONCEPT:
The design and creation of a building which could have been an architectural landmark in a major city such as Hong Kong is not necessarily a difficult formal exercise. Yet it does raise important issues both conceptually and programmatically in relation to the histories of the twentieth century architectural design. The site demands programmatic inventiveness and an overwhelming significance in relation to and as a relief from, the congestion of the city itself. The prevailing conditions are varied; abetting the spirit of intensity and prosperity in Hong Kong and Kowloon. Literally set over the city, high on a hill, the site rests free from the condensed urban environment yet is still integrated with the land and water below. To accentuate the dramatic visual conditions and natural arterial features, constructive elements of various materials are thrust onto the site, impacting vertically and horizontally a kind of Suprematist geology. The architecture is like a knife cutting through the site. It cuts through traditional principles of organisation and reconstitutes new ones, defies nature and resists destroying it.

PAINTINGS:

The Peak, Painting © Zaha Hadid Architects

The Peak–Confetti, Painting © Zaha Hadid Architects

The Peak–Exploded Isometric, Painting © Zaha Hadid Architects

The Peak–Blue Slabs by Night, Painting © Zaha Hadid Architects

ARCHITECT:
ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS
DESIGN: Zaha Hadid
DESIGN TEAM: Michael Wolfson, Jonathon Dunn,
Marianne van der Waals, N. Ayoubi
PRESENTATION: Michael Wolfson, Alistair Standing,
Nan Lee, Wendy Galway

CONSULTANTS:
STRUCTURAL: Ove Arup and Partners