Kloris

Can sculpture make good architecture?  
A case of mistaken identity causes consternation at the Academy.

Kloris by Zaha Hadid is exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

Kloris, apparently conceived by Zaha Hadid both as furniture and sculpture, has escaped from the confines of the Architecture Room to the rarified territory of the fine art galleries.  It is displayed on the floor, in the centre of a room lined with paintings, and offers an appealing variety of levels and curved shapes for seating that transcends conventional one-size-fits-all furniture.  Anxiety at the Royal Academy about the status of Hadid's work was revealed when my wife, along with about 20 other weary visitors to this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, was recently reprimanded by a gallery steward for sitting on it.   This raises the question 'is Kloris sculpture, not to be touched, or furniture, inviting full body contact?'  Even when presented as fine art, Kloris clearly exerts an appeal to visitors that transcends the genre boundaries imposed by the Academy.

One of a series,  Kloris is a large scale piece arranged in a radial cluster of elongated, smoothly rounded components.   Cast in resin, it has a finish similar to aluminium. Another version, exhibited at Chatsworth, has some components cast in glassy green.  There are many examples of sculpture which have an architectural character, for example Richard Serra's Torqued Ellipse series, Antony Gormley's Blind Light and much of Anish Kapoor's work.  These share a sense of spatial enclosure.  In Kloris Hadid sets up a spatial relationship between a series of objects, but does not enclose space. This interest in form, taking precedence over enclosure, characterises much of Hadid's architecture, which is often described as 'sculptural'.  It is also typical of Hadid that construction is used to deliver and enhance the form, rather than as something that might be expressed in its own terms.  Arguably, the sculptors' use of materials is more expressive and 'architectural'.  Likewise Hadid's interior spaces often seem compromised by the dominant drama of the exterior form. 

Kloris  represents a superb synthesis of form, construction and utility that the buildings rarely achieve.  Few major architects could produce work as convincing in a fine art setting, or as resistant to categorisation by genre.  Hadid proves at least that architects can produce good sculpture.

See previous blogpost 'Olympic Heats' for preview of Hadid Architects 2012 Olympic Aquatic Centre