ExhibitionLondon · Opening 3 November 2026
Zaha Hadid Foundation opens her former Clerkenwell office as a public gallery
Hadid's studio of 30 years in a Victorian London school reopens with three shows, a lecture hall and archive displays.
Ten years after Zaha Hadid's death, the foundation she set up in 2013 is opening the building where her career took shape. 10 Bowling Green Lane, a handsome brick Victorian school in Clerkenwell, housed her office for three decades. Studio KA has now refurbished it as a place for exhibitions and debate, with galleries, a learning space, a lecture hall and a collection display. Workshops and creative residencies are planned for later.
The renovation updates the surfaces and restores original details such as a fireplace and old doorways. Zaha Hadid Design stays on in the building, so expect her furniture and objects throughout. Three opening shows set the tone. 'Architecture of Performance' is the foundation's first collection-based exhibition, devoted to her stage and set designs. Artist LionHeart's 'The Rebar Beneath' draws on the archive through film, poetry and installation, and illustrator Mona Chalabi maps Hadid's influence as a playful data timeline.
Before the doors open, a two-day symposium, '89° of Zaha Hadid', runs on 30 and 31 October across the foundation, the Architectural Association and the Serpentine. Around 40 speakers, Rem Koolhaas and Sir Peter Cook among them, will cover everything from her early life in Baghdad to her vision for the future.
It opens to the public on 3 November 2026. A good one for anyone who has long admired the buildings and wants to see where the drawings began.
Our summary of a story from Wallpaper*, published 29 October 2026. Read the original
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From Wallpaper*