The Wonder of Warsaw

I’ve adored the work of Iraqi-born, London-based architect Zaha Hadid for years, and soon 1.7 million Poles will, also. Notes The New York Times, the Pritzker Prize-winning Hadid—the only woman to have been awarded the field’s “Nobel”—is about to construct a residential structure towering 790 feet above Warsaw’s streets.

Called Lilium Tower, the sleek, glass-covered building, with floor space of 1.1 million square feet has a fleur-de-lis motif and is to house apartments, a condominium hotel and commercial and recreational facilities on a site facing the city’s Palace of Culture. Some planning permits are still needed; completion is expected in 2012.

Remember when the extant question about Hadid was, “Yes, but when will she actually build something?” Now it’s “When will she stop?”

Bravo, Zaha. Keep ’em guessing….