You can’t really blame world-renowned architect ZAHA HADID for refuting the idea that the economic recession is killing off statement architecture, as she states in an interview with The Times. “People say it’s the end of the icon project,” she says. “Psssht.”

So true, if you’re under the prestigious ZAHA HADID architectural firm, that is. It seems these weeks, months, even years, you can’t really flip or scroll through an art, design, fashion, construction, or even travel magazine and blog, without a mention of her prestigious firm.

From being commissioned to design Italy’s first national public museum of contemporary art, Maxxi National Museum of the XXI Century Arts in Rome, which opens its first exhibition this spring, to the King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art, a new performing arts center in Jordan, to the Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and Opera Houses in China, Hadid’s illustrious, not to mention fluid, dynamic and complex designs, seem to be relentlessly coming to a city near you.

Closer to home, Hadid has also been commissioned by the Minister of Culture, H.E. SHAIKA MAY AL KHALIFA, to design the Museum of Contemporary Art Bahrain with Patrik Schumacher, due for completion in 2012.

And entering the Bin Matar House, one of the traditional Bahraini houses restored by the Shaikh Ebrahim Center, where ‘ZAHA HADID – Fluidity & Design’ was being showcased, the Kingdom of Bahrain seems like a timely and appropriate place for her debut exhibition in the Gulf.

In this exhibit, the Pritzker Prize winning architect portrays what her practice has been on a mission to achieve: a continued exploration and research towards a new architectural language of fluidity, surpassing all scales of design. How does she plan to achieve this? Precisely through the latest technology advancements that several art critics have been quick to point out have become tirelessly Hadid’s trademark look.

Going through the exhibit, there is a range of work to be viewed, from jewellery to large-scale furniture pieces; it is easy to see the juxtaposition and ability for Hadid to reinvent the balance between object and space.

One of the main designs on display is Lotus, a large-scale concept that integrates furniture and architecture, designed for the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale.

A seamless dialogue of complex curvilinear geometries, the Swash Cabinet, Gyre Chair and Serif Shelves of the Seamless Collection, designed for the British company Established & Sons, which were shown at The Abu Dhabi Arts Fair last year, were also on display.

Other pieces on show were jewellery pieces designed for the Spring/Summer 2010 collection for crystal brand Atelier Swarovski.

Tea & Coffee Set for Sawaya & Moroni

“Zaha Hadid: Fluidity & Design” at the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research, Bahrain

15 March – 30 April 2010

Text/Photography LUMA BASHMI