Zaha Hadid has rejected claims that her architecture is self-indulgent and wilful, believing that she is "widely misunderstood" by the mainstream.
Addressing an audience during her Royal Gold Medal lecture last night, the Iraqi-born British architect said projects like her Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku were driven by an ambition for architectural progress, rather than personal indulgences.
"Architecture is not a medium of personal expression for me," said said. "To interpret it as striving for individual expression is to misunderstand it. This misunderstanding is often linked to the dismissal of my work as self-indulgent or wilful."
"However, for me there was never any doubt that architecture must contribute to society's progress and ultimately to our individual and collective wellbeing," she added. The Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku was named Design of the Year by London's Design Museum in 2014
The talk was held at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, ahead of Hadid being awarded the Royal Gold Medal for architecture ? the first time a woman has won the prize in her own right in 167 years. The award recognises Hadid's buildings that include the London 2012 Olympic Aquatics Centre and the Galaxy Soho complex in Beijing.
Hadid said the aim of all her architectural projects ? whether private and public ? is to address 21st-century challenges and opportunities.
"I have always believed in progress and in cr...