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.

'Uneasy Balance' - New Book Edited by Christopher Platt

Chris Platt, Head and Professor at the Mackintosh School of Architecture is the editor of a new book 'Uneasy Balance,' a memento to the design and construction of the new building by Steven Holl Architects.

Published at the time of topping out, this slim, pocket-sized volume is a fitting tribute to the germination, growth and realisation of Holl's intelligent architectural design. The book is illustrated with specially commissioned photographs as well as drawings and sketches. Some of these drawings are the loose, inky architectural sketches from the office of Steven Holl Architects and some of the Mackintosh Building have been provided by the GSA's Archives and Collections Centre. The book contains four essays and an illuminating interview with Steven Holl in which he imparts the concept behind his "thin skin/thick bones" design, reveals some of his working practices and discusses architecture as art form.

Books are priced at £15 and can be purchased from the GSA shop. We'll also be cataloging a couple of copies to place on the shelves when the books reappear in September.

Gillespie, Kidd & Coia on Radio 4

There are six days to catch up on a Radio 4 programme exploring the church architecture of Isi Metzstein and Andrew MacMillan, the innovative partners for Glasgow firm Gillespie Kidd & Coia during the second part of the 20th century, and the pioneers of a contemporary form of European architecture.

In post-war Britain, the Catholic Church drew on the visionary talents of Metzstein and MacMillan as a means of constructing places of worship which would meet its ambitions to expand Catholicism in Scotland. While the religious renaissance may never have been fully realised, the creative partnership between Metzstein and MacMillan flourished, culminating in their masterpiece at St Peter's Seminary at Cardross. Once rising statuesque out of the landscape, the site now lies derelict, abandoned in 1980, just 14 years after completion, due to structural changes in the church. The site is still regarded as hallowed land by many architects and enthusiasts, and there is still belief that it will, eventually, be conserved as a ruin.

In this half-hour Radio 4 programme, Jonathan Glancey discusses Scotland's landscape and the country's religious element to discover more about the lives of two of Glasgow's most extraordinarily talented architects. Listen in at the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rqnf3

Charles Jencks' Desert Island Discs

For those not able to attend the recent Charles Jencks' event at the Mitchell Library, it is still possible to listen to the famed architect in conversation with Kirsty Young as part of Radio 4's popular Desert Island Discs series. The forty-five minute run-through of Jencks' musical cherrypickings can be accessed on BBC iPlayer. The title of the show seems apt given Jencks' career in creating idyllic, and iconic, landscapes. Listen to the music that sculpted his career whilst speculating how he would have formed his own cosmic environment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01k9n81/Desert_Island_Discs_Charles_Jencks/

Manchester Modernist Society

A unique group of influential writers, broadcasters, lecturers and general architecture enthusiasts help to form the unique collective known as the Manchester Modernists. Since its foundation in 1965, the not-for-profit  society has existed to candidly document anything of architectural intrigue around the city, be that at street level or hidden from view behind the patina of modern-day Manchester's "tarted up million dollar revamps." The history of the huge influence of modernist styles on this one-time, industrial city is distilled through the members' humorous observations and anecdotes on a website which exudes personality through its witty presentation style.

The influence of the post-war, modernist period on the area is well-documented in turgid textbooks. This site provides a fun and current perspective aimed at engaging the public in a discussion about the 20th century backdrop they inhabit. Have a nosy at their mission statement and check out the pictures of local architecture shown on the group's Flickr page.
http://www.manchestermodernistsociety.org/index.html