Serena Lawrance at the Zaha Hadid Foundation explains their latest exhibition, Zaha’s Moonsoon: An Interior in Japan, exploring the design story of the Moonsoon bar and restaurant.

The Zaha Hadid Foundation (ZHF) is a charitable organisation founded in 2013 by the globally renowned architect, designer, and artist Zaha Hadid. Fully launched in 2022, our founding purpose is to preserve and make publicly available the full range of Zaha’s extraordinary output, and more broadly to advance research, learning, and the enjoyment of related areas of modern architecture, art, and design. 

ZHF is housed in two buildings in London – Zaha's former office in Clerkenwell and at the site of the former Design Museum in Shad Thames – and has a collection of c.15,000 works across a range of media. In addition to managing and cataloguing our collection, we promote research and learning through public talks and events, and curate exhibitions related to Zaha’s work.

Our current exhibition, Zaha’s Moonsoon: An Interior in Japan, open until 22 July 2023, explores the design story of the Moonsoon bar and restaurant (1989-90) in Sapporo, Japan. This project was anchored at an important time in the Japanese ‘Bubble Economy’ of the 1980s to 90s, when increased fiscal spending presented new opportunities for promising international architects to design high-end commercial properties in urban spaces. Moonsoon was an early key project in Zaha’s career, as her first built interior outside of the UK.

The exhibition traces its initial brief to final built form, from sketches in Arabic letterform to Japanese magazines showcasing its completed interior. Like many of her early works, Zaha sought inspiration from the early twentieth-century avant-garde movement, especially the work of Kazimir Malevich, to implement vivid colour palettes, dramatic angles, and gravity-defying layering throughout. She also incorporated eclectic design references such as xerox copies of orange peels and pasta to produce a swirling structure connecting its two floors. 

Exhibition highlights include Perspective drawings(1989-90) that explore the early possibilities of the site and its design concept, an innovative presentation model by artist Daniel Chadwick, and a newly commissioned video work by Marwan Kaabour based on materials in our archive. 

Our public programme for Zaha’s Moonsoon included a panel discussion with former collaborators from Zaha’s early years, a Day Symposium on designing hospitality spaces, a Studio Late viewing as part of the London Festival of Architecture, and a talk exploring Japanese fashion in Europe in the 1980s to 90s. 

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Address: Zaha Hadid Foundation, 10 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BQ 

Dates: 20 April – Saturday 22 July 2023

Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, 12:00-18:00

Free admission