Tonight: Zaha Hadid on BBC One's imagine...

Zaha Hadid is the subject of Alan Yentob's interest tonight as part of  BBC One's imagine... series. The programme 'Zaha Hadid: Who Dares Wins' will profile the work of one of the most internationally famous contemporary architects working today, and winner of the Pritzker Architecture Award (the highest possible accolade in the architecture profession) in 2004.

Born in 1950 in Baghdad and based in London, Zaha Hadid's dynamic and often unexpected architectural forms exist at the interface between the natural landscape and human-made systems. Hadid experiments with the latest technologies to produce unexpected architectural forms which are simultaneously fluid and complex in style. She is founder and director of Zaha Hadid Architects which for the past 30 years has revolutionised architectural design through a number of successful global projects. The firm's success secures Hadid's status as the most successful female architect to have lived.

In tonight's programme, the ever-affable Alan Yentob attempts to understand the woman behind such architectural vision: how has Hadid managed to actualise her highly experimental style, bringing her visionary ideas - at one time considered impossible - to exist as some of the world's most exactingly-designed and seminal buildings. The programme profiles many of Hadid's famous designs. We are hoping for an insight into the Galaxy Soho in Beijing, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and possibly the design of Glasgow's Riverside Museum.

Watch on BBC One tonight at 10.35pm or replay on the iplayer over the coming few days.

ICAM

ICAM is the International Confederation of Architectural Museums, and is dedicated to fostering links between all those interested in promoting the better understanding of architecture. ICAM's website at http://www.icam-web.org/ has some interesting content, most notably the full text of its 'icamprint' journal; details of its regular conferences; and listings of architecture museums worldwide.

Ferrari Museum by Future Systems

The online magazine and blog Dezeen has a good description of the new Enzo Ferrari motor museum in Modena, Italy, designed by Future Systems. As well as text and photographs, there are a number of plans and sections of the curving, glass-fronted structure; these are particularly useful given that the printed architectural journals are yet to feature this building in any detail.

New Polish museums

An online exhibition from the RIBA looks at three major new museums being built in Poland, and explores how architecture can help frame and unlock the past, acting as both a memorial and also a tool for visitors to learn and understand the context of the present. Museums featured are the Copernicus Science Museum, Museum of the History of the Polish Jews, and the Silesian Museum in Katowice.

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

I finally made it down to this new museum at Alloway, Ayrshire, at the weekend. The building has been designed by Edinburgh-based architects Simpson & Brown with Buro Happold as structural engineers, so it's a little surprising that there has been almost no coverage to date in the architectural journals. The various Burns sites in the area have been linked together with some enjoyable public art, including work by Timorous Beasties, Kenny Hunter (pictured) and book artist Su Blackwell, while the original Burns Cottage has had a makeover and makes clever use of technology to recreate its 18th century atmosphere.

Drawing on Riverside

I finally got round to visiting Glasgow artist Patricia Cain's superb exhibition 'Drawing on Riverside' at the Kelvingrove Museum at the weekend. Her drawings and paintings record in astonishing detail the construction of Zaha Hadid's new Glasgow Transport Museum and the regeneration of the surrounding area. The exhibition also features topographical works from Glasgow Museums showing how artists have captured the city's built environment in the past. The exhibition is free and runs until 14 August 2011.

Albertopolis online

‘Albertopolis: the development of South Kensington’ is an online exhibition from the RIBA which looks at the origins of this famous London cultural quarter, and its growth from the 1850s to the present day. It features maps, photographs and downloads of the district, and charts the history and collections of its 11 leading institutions.

Dundee V&A designs unveiled

The six shortlisted designs for the V&A museum planned for Dundee's waterfront have gone on display in the library of Abertay University, and a selection of images can also be viewed online. Shortlisted firms include Steven Holl Architects, Edinburgh-based Sutherland Hussey, and Snohetta with Gareth Hoskins Architects. The building is due to be opened in 2014 as a centre of 21st century design.

The Benmore Fernery

A recent visit to the Benmore Botanic Garden, 30 miles west of Glasgow, provided the opportunity to look around its Victorian Fernery, beautifully restored by MAST Architects with a modern barrel-vaulted roof springing from the original walls. The project doesn't appear to have been particularly well-covered by the architectural press, although there is an article in 'Country Life' (December 9, 2009). Architects and designers will find yet more to interest them in an exhibition of the work of the late furniture designer Tim Stead in the Gardens' Courtyard gallery, which runs until 25 July 2010.

Link: http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/benmore
Access: Entry fee to gardens

Queen's Park Arena

The Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA) and local community councils recently invited design ideas for the site of the former Queen’s Park Bandstand area in the south side of the city. The intention is to create a modern, multi-purpose performance and activity space for community and visiting arts groups with capacity to accommodate both small and large audiences. The resulting 80 or so competition entries can be viewed online, providing an interesting range of pavilion designs using a variety of materials.

Link: http://www.queensparkarenadesigncompetition.co.uk/

Access: Free