Planetary Architecture Two: Interview with Zaha Hadid by Alvin Boyarsky is one of 12 AA Folios held in our Rare Books collection. You can find it on display in the rare books display case on the first floor landing.
Boyarsky was Chairman of the Architectural Association from 1971 to 1990. The AA Folio series was produced under his leadership from 1983 to 1991, presenting its experimental approach to architecture and design. Folios include the work of now iconic architects and designers including Zaha Hadid, Peter Cook, Peter Eisenman, Daniel Libeskind, Bernard Tschumi and Eduardo Paolozzi.
Despite encountering resistance as a woman architect in a male-dominated profession, Hadid achieved success and popularity designing innovative buildings from “futuristic fantasies.” She designed over 950 projects in 44 countries (Maslikova & Stoian, 2022, p. 31). You can find images and articles exploring her work by exploring our library collections, including the online resource, JSTOR which includes the extensive image database ARTSTOR.
Explore our Rare Books
The AA Folio Series is popular with students of architecture, interior architecture, graphic design and illustration and is sometimes explored in seminars. It can also be consulted by individuals in the University Library. Visit the Special Collections menu on the library homepage to find out more about, and how to access, the Rare Books collection.
You may also be interested to know that the Architectural Association has signed up to the SCONUL Access Scheme so you will be able to apply to visit this globally significant and specialised research library.
Reference
Maslikova, I., & Stoian, S. (2022). The visualisation of cosmological ideas in contemporary architecture. Philosophy & Cosmology, 29, 26–39. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/29/3