Zaha Hadid's Chanel Pavilion Set for Central Park

The 20-foot-tall, 95-foot-wide, polymer-clad structure is fashioned after Chanel's iconic 2.55 quilted handbag.

by Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 8/11/2008

When Chanel’s Mobile Art exhibition touches down in New York’s Central Park on October 20 for a 21-day stay, an as-yet-announced lineup of international artists will be showcased inside a temporary pavilion. But most of the buzz will likely be reserved for the structure itself, conceived and designed by two boldface names who can claim rock-star status in their respective fields: Chanel artistic director Karl Lagerfeld, and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid.

Resembling a futuristic magnification of Chanel’s iconic 2.55 quilted handbag, the polymer-clad pavilion will land in the park's Rumsey Playfield, near Fifth Avenue and 69th Street. It spans 20 feet tall by 95 feet wide and contains 2,300 square feet of exhibition space, which is wrapped around central court illuminated by a translucent skylight.

"Why did I choose Zaha Hadid? She is a kind of Coco Chanel of today, not in fashion but in architecture," says Lagerfeld. "This all began with a small sketch, a computer drawing a concept. I gave Zaha the general idea in a few moments, and her interpretation and fulfillment of that idea is more than perfect."

Created to examine the relationship between contemporary art, fashion and architecture, the free exhibit embarked upon a two-year, worldwide tour in Hong Kong in February, then moved to Tokyo. Following New York, which is the pavilion’s only American stopover, it travels to London and Moscow before ending in Paris in 2010. As in previous cities, works in the New York exhibition will be selected with the assistance of curator and Beaux Arts editor Fabrice Bousteau.

From top: The two fabulous collaborators. The Mobile Art pavilion in Tokyo.

Images courtesy of Chanel