IN CONVERSATION WITH PATRIK SCHUMACHER

A peek inside the mind of the Director of Zaha Hadid Architects unveils his nuanced logical musings and memories of childhood and the late Zaha Hadid

- TWINKLE TOLANI

If the field of architecture had leftwing and right-wing ideologies, Patrik Schumacher, Director of the prolific Zaha Hadid Architects, would probably be tagged a hard-core right-winger. However, he is a self-avowed libertarian who rejects the left-right dichotomy. His opinions are known to cause stupor and consequently incite debates. While beliefs can be imperfect, their existence on either pole helps maintain a balance between reality and fantasy.

But for someone steeped in atypical reasoning like Patrik, the dream to become an architect took flight in his early adolescent years during a cliche encounter with a suave BMW-driving professional working on his home extension. Although he shrugs off the anecdote his parents repeat and feels it was the images of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavillion he saw at the age of 13 that enamoured him to the field.

“I loved to look at those pictures,” reminisces the now 61 years old architect. “I also watched a documentary about Mies van der Rohe on German TV featuring the pavilion, his US work, and the amazing National Gallery in Berlin a little later. I loved to see modern architecture in movies, like Oscar Niemeyer’s Brasilia in a 1964 movie with Jean-Paul Belmondo, too.”