Zaha Hadid signs the deal with Iraq’s UK ambassador Faik Nerweyi (top right) behind

Architect came third in original competition

Zaha Hadid has won the scheme to design a new parliament complex in Iraq – despite coming third in the original RIBA-run international competition.

BD understands the deal was signed at the Iraqi embassy in London’s Queen’s Gate last month with Hadid herself attending the signing ceremony.

But the deal has been shrouded in secrecy with leading Iraqi architectural critic Ihsan Fethi complaining that he has yet to see what Hadid’s design looks like.

“I personally tried in vain so many times to even have a quick look at the design with no success,” he said in an email sent by the Iraqi Architects Society. “Of course this is contrary to the principle of transparency and it is absolutely unacceptable for us Iraqi architects, or any Iraqi citizen to that matter, to be prevented from seeing what their Parliament would look like. We absolutely have no idea.”

The competition was originally won by a team led by 10-year-old London practice Assemblage which also included engineer Buro Happold and the Shard’s executive architect, Adamson....Continue Reading

> via bdonline.co.uk