Zaha Hadeed - Cellular
Our contemporary Western society promotes expression of individualism as the ultimate vehicle for taking a stand and proclaiming to the rest of the world, “Look at me – I am so unique and special!” From piercing odd parts of our bodies, to bumper stickers on our Lexuses (for those of us lucky enough to afford such extravagant purchases), to the make up and clothes we put on every day, we strive to differentiate ourselves from our neighbors. God forbid, the woman in the office next door wears the same pair of shoes as us. It’s the end of the world as we know it.
Our contemporary Western society promotes expression of individualism as the ultimate vehicle for taking a stand and proclaiming to the rest of the world, “Look at me – I am so unique and special!” From piercing odd parts of our bodies, to bumper stickers on our Lexuses (for those of us lucky enough to afford such extravagant purchases), to the make up and clothes we put on every day, we strive to differentiate ourselves from our neighbors. God forbid, the woman in the office next door wears the same pair of shoes as us. It’s the end of the world as we know it.
Yet, we await with collective anticipation the day the next big thing arrives on the market and rush out to get it the very minute Best Buy opens its doors in the morning. Can you almost picture Steve Jobs in a role of a Big Brother, spying on his little minions with millions of hidden cameras, laughing diabolically in his twenty-million dollar dungeon as the next version of the iPhone comes flying off the shelves? In an effort to become defined by what we wear and what gadgets we use, we ultimately fall victims to the uniformity of consumer consumption. Place a Diane von Fürstenberg gown and a dress from Target side by side for me and tell me which one I will pick. No matter how much of a unique individual I might be, I can say with utmost certainty that I will be reaching for that DVF masterpiece. I want to make a statement about my status in this society and a Target dress just will not cut it. At the end of the day, I still want to impress those who judge me so ruthlessly.
So what is it in our blood that makes us want to impress others with every article of clothing and every piece of furniture we buy? No matter what those motives are, architect Zaha Hadid certainly understands the urge to wow and show off. Picturing her cellular wallpaper design draping the walls of a suburban living room is quite a stretch, but Zaha Hadid does not design for an Average Joe’s living room. She takes her architectural gestures, her signature fluid, sensual shapes so persistently present in her buildings and translates them into wallpaper. Suddenly, a living room so mundane can be transformed in a near blink of an eye into a hub of sophistication. Surely, those who appreciate sipping pink martinis and flipping through Architectural Record would enjoy basking in the sophisticated serenity of Hadid’s cellular whimsy.
So, we may not be able to stop the rain from falling or be able to grasp the mysteries of the galaxies beyond our reach, but we are able to color coordinate, talk about poetry and life lessons and put up wallpaper in our living rooms. Our quest for individuality is, ultimately, a search for acceptance and uniformity, with very few variations allowed.
But who cares, right? As long as someone, somewhere in the world, is jealous of our wallpaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment