Hadid Building Wins Design of the Year 2014

Hadid beat out six other competitors, the winners in the other six categories – digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, product, and transport – as we reported in April. Jury chair Ekow Eshun said of the Heydar Aliyev Center: "It’s beautiful, it’s inspiring, it’s the clear vision of a singular genius and we thought it was a remarkable piece of work." Other members of the jury* reiterated Eshun's comments, dropping phrases like "stunning and iconic," "intoxicatingly beautiful," "pure and sexy," and "a pinnacle moment in [Hadid's] portfolio."

Hadid's statement on the award: "We’re absolutely delighted to receive the Design of the Year Award. The surface of the Heydar Aliyev Centre’s external plaza rises and folds to define a sequence of public event spaces within; welcoming, embracing and directing visitors throughout the building. It’s an architectural landscape where concepts of seamless spatial flow are made real – creating a whole new kind of civic space for the city."

Hadid's unanimous victory, as mentioned, is the first time an architectural project has been named Design of the Year. Previous winners** have tended to fall into the product, graphics, and digital categories.

*The Design of the Year 2014 jury: