Rising above Antwerp’s historic harbour, Europe’s second-largest port, sits one of Zaha Hadid’s most radical and bittersweet architectural triumphs: The Port House.
When the city mandated that a protected 20th-century fire station remain entirely untouched, Hadid chose not to build around it—she levitated a 111-meter-long glass diamond directly above it. Anchored by a monumental prow-shaped column and draped in shifting, diamond-cut triangular glass facets, the building bridges maritime history with 21st-century deconstructivism.
Completed shortly after Hadid’s sudden passing in 2016, the Port House stands as an enduring monument to kinetic energy, daring engineering, and an architect who reshaped modern skylines.
Time Period:
21st century
Professor Paul Greenhalgh is a specialist on the art and design of the Modern period. He has written widely on Art Nouveau and curated several exhibitions including the major survey Art Nouveau 1890-1914, which toured internationally (2000-01). His books include Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890–1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2005), Fair World (2011), L’Art Nouveau: La Revolution Decorative (2013), Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021) and Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth (2022). He has held positions as Head of Research at the V&A Museum, London; President and Director at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Director of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; and Inaugural Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, London. He was born and raised in Bolton, and is a proud Lancastrian.