Zaha Hadid: Architecture of Performance Listen to Post

Zaha Hadid Architects, Metapolis Ballet, Compositional study, Digital rendering, Charleroi, Belgium, 1999 © Zaha Hadid Foundation

Zaha Hadid Architects, Music Video Pavilion, Study models (3 models on base), Groningen, The Netherlands, 1990 © Zaha Hadid Foundation

Zaha Hadid Architects, Nightlife World Tour, Concept model, 1999 © Zaha Hadid Foundation

Zaha Hadid Architects, Così Fan Tutte, Model, Los Angeles, USA, 2014 © Zaha Hadid Foundation

Zaha Hadid, Hamburg sketch, Hamburg, Germany, 1989 © Zaha Hadid Foundation

Opening on Tuesday 3 November 2026, Architecture of Performance is the Zaha Hadid Foundation’s first collection-based exhibition dedicated to stage and set designs by Zaha and her office, exploring how her architectural language extended into immersive environments for contemporary dance, classical opera and pop music. 

Projects span from Zaha’s d1 collaboration with British choreographer Rosemary Butcher (London, 1989) to her Music Video Pavilion (Groningen, 1990), stage environments for the Metapolis Ballet (Charleroi, 1999), a set for the Pet Shop Boys’ Nightlife World Tour (1999–2000) and her reimagining of Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles, 2014).  

Original sketches, digital designs, models and costume from the Foundation’s collection will be on show, alongside archival photography and rare film documentation.