BRIT awards announces zaha hadid-designed 2017 trophy

the BRIT awards — the UK’s annual pop music prize ceremony — has announced that its 2017 statue has been designed by the late zaha hadid. since hadid personally accepted and began working on the brief in january 2016, the project has been led by maha kutay, director at zaha hadid design, alongside niamh byrne on behalf of the BRIT awards.

‘zaha was truly excited to be doing this,’ says kutay. ‘her vision was, being an architect, to focus our efforts more on the 3D element, as the statue had previously been used as a canvas for artists to paint on for the last few years. our design expresses zaha’s unwavering belief in progress and optimism for the future and a break from the norm. the biggest challenge was to create something different within certain guidelines, yet achieving a result recognizable to the public. you have to respect the existing to create something new.’

the final statue will comprise a family of five sculptures

BRIT awards chairman jason iley says he asked zaha hadid to create something modern and culturally relevant for the statue, which will be given to recipients of the award at the prize ceremony on february 22, 2017. ‘zaha’s work is innovative, original and recognizes diversity in culture,’ explains iley. ‘it has much in common with music. she was the perfect choice for progressing the award into the future.’ the final statue, to be fully revealed later in the year, will comprise a family of five sculptures — a concept intended to represent diversity.

damien hirst designed the 2013 statue featuring his trademark polkadots
see more of the project on designboom here

in 2015, zaha hadid partnered with pharrell williams to collaborate on the design of a pair of sneakers for adidas. at the time pharrell said, ‘I’m a huge fan of zaha’s. I would venture to say that she’s one of the most talented architects of our time, and of history in my opinion.’ it is not the first time that a famous name in the field of design has conceived the trophy for the BRIT awards. in 2013, damien hirst designed the statue featuring his trademark polkadots.

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