“It’s a People’s Building”: Richard Rogers on Zaha’s Curvaceous Aquatics Centre

In a series of conversations with prominent architects, Dezeen — in collaboration with Architizer — explores the memories of those involved in the late Zaha Hadid’s career, highlighting some of her most spectacular projects. In this brief interview, Richard Rogers looks back on Zaha’s persistence when she proposed and successfully built the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics.

“Zaha is a truly radical architect,” starts Rogers, mentioning her highly sculptural and fluid style, very different to his own but highly appreciated by the architectural community and beyond.

Richard Rogers reminisces about his role on the jury in 2005, when architects like Bennetts Associates, FaulknerBrowns and Dominique Perrault submitted proposals for a new Aquatics Centre in advance of London hosting the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

Richard Rogers was a member of the jury for London’s new Aquatics Centre.

While many critics doubted the feasibility of Hadid’s scheme for the athletic venue, Rogers supported and fought alongside the strong-minded architect so that the design would be accepted and realized. The renderings and schematic drawings of the complex are demonstrative of Hadid’s fascination with the capabilities of computer-generated design and the technological wonders of modern-day engineering.

“It’s certainly the most successful building in the Olympics, probably the most successful building that’s been built in the last years as a cultural establishment,” he says.

Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre, after serving as a key venue during the Olympic Games, became a major public facility for the East London community, who uses it as a space for swimming, diving and gym activities: “It’s a roaring success,” emphasizes Rogers. “It’s a really popular people’s building.”

This interview was carried out as part of a memorial video put together by Architizer and Dezeen that was screened at last month’s Architizer A+Awards in New York. Stay tuned for recollections from Patrik Schumacher, Bjarke Ingels and more. You can also see more images, renderings, computer models and construction shots of the London Aquatics Center here.