Marco Sammicheli on Curating Being Zaha Hadid and the Architect's Legacy

Marco Sammicheli recalls curating the exhibition Being Zaha Hadid between 2010 and 2011, traveling worldwide with the architect and photographer Giovanna Silva. The monograph, published in Italian, English, and Chinese, was structured into three sections: The Teacher, The Architect, The Diva. Sammicheli describes Hadid's generosity as a teacher at the AA in London and the Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, her hands-on approach to projects, and her strategic embrace of the 'diva' persona for media. He notes that Hadid rejected gender framing, stating 'talent has no genitals,' and emphasizes her muscular, hypnotic architecture that revolutionized the field from the 1980s onward. Regarding ongoing projects, Sammicheli expects the studio's work to continue, particularly in design. Hadid died in Miami, a city she loved, which served as a breakthrough for her North American career after Cincinnati and the Broad Art Museum. In Italy, she revered engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and admired designer Massimo Morozzi, fashion designer Romeo Gigli, and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The interview, conducted by Valentina Silvestrini, was published on Artribune.