Zaha Hadid：国外媒体最新专访报道

You have designed the aquatics centre for the 2012 Olympics. Can you explain the concept behind the building?

It was about a wave - or two waves - but we've also been working with organic morphology, underwater life, all that sort of stuff. The roof is a wavy roof because we wanted to achieve a level of lightness.

view the project:Zaha Hadid设计2012年奥林匹克游泳馆

It has allegedly gone three times over budget. Is that correct?

Zaha Hadid talking to Hannah Pool Link to this audio The original project did not include all the contingencies, all the fees. Maybe now things will drop down. At the time these things were priced, it was a very competitive global market - the price of concrete and cement, of steel, was high. There are different pricings - one is for construction, the other includes everything. You can't mix and match them.

Why do you think people get so passionate about how much a building like that costs?

Because all public buildings here are under scrutiny. There is a tremendous focus on legacy after the Olympics, how this regenerates an area. It becomes a pavilion and a park, it services the whole neighbourhood; one has to think about these things in a strategic way, not just as an isolated project.

Have you had any involvement with Boris Johnson?

No, not yet.

Because of the fuss about the cost, and the recession, do you wish you had designed a more modest building?

No. In these moments of recession, uplifting the spirit is even more important and we should learn from things that were done in the past that were done in a hurry. You can't compromise with any of these buildings: you can't shrink the pool, because it's an Olympic pool; you can't compromise on changing rooms, on glazing.

Your work is quite divisive. Do you set out to cause controversy?

No. But because it's not familiar at the beginning, people shy away from it.

There was a period when you were winning awards and getting commissions outside the UK but you couldn't get anything built here. Has that changed?

I don't think so.