Leading Muslim architect tapped for metro project

The ArRiyadh Development Authority has tapped the world’s leading Muslim architect Zaha Hadid to design its metro station at the King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. Completion is expected in four years.
The 20,434-square-meter metro station will be a focal point for the city, not only as a hub for commuters but also as a landmark. The station is expected to help ease traffic congestion in the area.
The monorail will feature six platforms on four public floors and will be integrated within the financial district. It’s intended to be multifunctional public space.
“The metro station will be placed amid a tangle of pathways, sky bridges and metro lines, all of which have been mapped and structured to clearly delineate the pedestrian routes within the building, optimize internal circulation and avoid congestion,” according to the Zaha Hadid Architects website. “... the metro station has a unique, undulating facade that mimics the daily flow of traffic in Riyadh, where there are 5 million residents.”
Hadid, an Iraqi-British architect, is the founding partner of London-based Zaha Hadid Architects.
She directs a staff of 350 architects, lead designers and associates. She was the first Muslim and woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, which is the architecture version of the Nobel Price. In 2010 and 2011, she won the Stirling Price.
She is known for her futuristic, curving and often elongated designs.
She designed the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park in Seoul, South Korea. Among her other projects are the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany, the Guangzhou Opera House and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh. The firm also designed Aquatics Center for the London 2012 Olympic Games and high-speed train stations in Naples.
The ArRiyadh Development Authority said the city’s public transport plan includes the six metro lines that will serve as the backbone for public transport in the city.