There’s just no stopping Zaha Hadid. The world might have bid a tearful farewell to one of architecture’s most prized rebels last March but her work continues to awe and inspire. Slightly more than 2,000 kilometers away from Zaha Hadid Architects in London, in the quiet Italian city of Salerno, an oyster-like structure quietly looms over the Amalfi Coast. Today marks the opening of the new maritime terminal – Hadid’s first major project to come to completion since her untimely death from a heart attack at the age of 65. As part of a broader redevelopment of Salerno’s port area, the terminal was constructed to smooth the movement of ferries and cruise ship passengers that pass through it. Like many of her buildings, the Salerno Marine Terminal’s polished lines and sleek silhouette are sensual and intriguing. The building resembles an oyster, featuring a hard shell above a soft, fluid interior, complete with wavy lines that were Hadid’s trademark. “This extraordinary work adds to everything Salerno is doing to transform itself and I think it is marvellous,” said Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after his visit yesterday. “We should have been able to celebrate this moment together but it was not to be,” he added. Hadid’s practice is now being run by her co-worker of 28 years, German architect Patrik Schumacher, with some 36 projects at the design stage or currently under construction. This includes a Port House in Antwerp, King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh and Mathematic Gallery at the Science Museum in London. Hadid used to say of her unorthodox designs: “When people see something fantastic they think that it’s not possible to achieve it in real life. But that’s not true. You can achieve amazing things.”
