Posthumous masterpiece

If you want to report on The Opus in Dubai, you cannot avoid the legendary Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. She is considered one of the greatest architects of our time; her company Zaha Hadid Architects has designed well over 900 buildings in 44 countries since 1980. The Opus is one of the last buildings whose plans were designed by the architect herself. Shortly after their completion in 2016, she passed away at the age of 65.

The Opus has thus been built posthumously and opened in 2020. But it embodies the essence of Zaha Hadid's architecture in every respect. The English newspaper “The Guardian“ once called her the “Queen of the Curve“, who “liberated architectural geometry and gave it a whole new expressive identity“. In The Opus, these characteristics can be found again.

A cube that is not a cube
The Opus covers an area of 84,300 sqm and outwardly looks like a huge cube with a shapeless, curvy hole in the middle. In reality, however, it is two towers connected at the top and bottom to create a void effect with the supposed hole.

During the day, the mirror façade of the cube reflects the sky, the sun and the surrounding city. At night, the cavity is illuminated by a dynamic light installation of individually controllable LED lights in each pane of glass. In addition to the ME Dubai hotel, The Opus also houses offices, serviced residences, restaurants, cafés and bars.

Hadid inside and out
Apart from its spectacular architecture – it is, by the way, the only hotel in the world whose interior and exterior were designed by Zaha Hadid – the building is characterised by its sustainable construction.