The University of Westminster School of Architecture and Cities (UoW), in collaboration with the Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF) welcome applications for an interdisciplinary PhD studentship funded by Technē under its Doctoral Training Partnership Scheme, to begin in September 2023. Applicants will be shortlisted via the UoW online application and interview arrangements and be subject to approval via the subsequent Technē online application process.
Project Overview and Research Outline
Zaha Hadid was the first woman and Arabic architect to win architecture’s Pritzker Prize (26th Laureate), yet there are few academic studies of her ground-breaking career as an international pioneer in the continuation of Modernism and the emergence of ‘parametric’ design. This first PhD project with the newly formed ZHF will combine reinterpretations of her ethnic and gendered context with detailed exploration of her seminal role in reshaping architecture through digital production. The ensuing work will contribute to the development of a major research foundation.
This PhD may span or link three key areas. The work will chart and analyse the translation of her world-famous speculative paintings through emerging digital technologies to inform major innovations in architectural practice; will test her often-vehement criticisms of professional barriers to gender, especially women and those from global minority backgrounds; and will combine these to offer new histories and interpretations of her work. Moreover, the outcomes will test, in practice at the ZHF, how the capturing of digital and process-driven design can shape the construction of architectural archives.
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Featured image: Zaha Hadid with Zaha Hadid Architects, London 2066, Vogue Magazine (UK), 1991 © Zaha Hadid Foundation