Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid (photo from this site)


If you scroll down to the bottom three photos in this post, you'll see the exterior and interior of the building where I work, Morrill Hall. It's one of the oldest buildings on our campus, built around the turn of the 19th century. Students and professors either love it or hate it. It's old, decrepit, plain, and well, I love it. It will be torn down one of these days, because they say it's too decrepit to bear repair.

In about two years, just down the block from Morrill Hall along Grand River Ave., in a row of similarly traditional university halls, a world-class 26,000 square foot art museum shown in these renderings will be completed.

Zaha Hadid, world-renowned Iraqi-British architect and winner of the Pritzker Architectural Prize, created the winning design for the museum that will house modern and contemporary art. Hadid is the only woman architect to win the Pritzker, comparable to the Nobel prize in architectural circles. Her work is known for pushing the boundaries of architectural and urban design.

Thanks to Loring who brought this NYTimes Art & Design piece about this to my attention.
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Eli and Edythe Broad donated most of the money ($24 million). $34 million was raised before the winning design was even chosen.











Won't it be interesting to see this sleek, floating aluminum and glass structure in a row with buildings like mine?


I am VERY EXCITED to witness this arrival. It will change the face of our old North Campus, which I love as is. But I think when I walk by the new Broad museum, I will be startled by aesthetic pleasure every time.

Morrill Hall