A sculptural dining pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid in collaboration with Patrick Schumacher — one of a strictly limited number ever produced — will be offered at auction in Monaco on Wednesday 8th April, with an estimate of between €900,000 and €1.1 million.
The work, titled the Signature Volu Dining Pavilion and listed as lot 571, is being presented by Hermitage Fine Art at its design auction. It represents one of the rarer opportunities to acquire a three-dimensional object from Hadid’s practice, which is better known for buildings than collectible design pieces.
The object and its origins
The Volu Pavilion was originally commissioned for Design Miami in 2015 as part of the Revolution Project, an initiative exploring advanced design and fabrication technologies for the creation of efficient living environments. A separate example was later commissioned for the amfAR charity in 2016 — shortly before Hadid’s death that April — and it is this version, distinguished by its unique colourway, that comes to auction in Monaco.
Despite its apparently monolithic appearance, the structure is built from a complex assembly of irregularly shaped polygonal panels cut by laser and integrated into a steel armature. Continuous bands converge on a central spine before extending upward, producing what the practice describes as a dynamic and immersive spatial experience. Every element was numerically optimised through parametric design to minimise material use while meeting fabrication constraints — a working demonstration of the computational design methodology that Zaha Hadid Architects has developed since founding its research group co|de in 2007.
The lot includes a matching table and benches, extending the formal language of the pavilion into functional furniture.
Who was Zaha Hadid
Hadid remains one of the most decorated architects of the modern era. She was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 — the first woman to receive it — followed by the Stirling Prize in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012 she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and in 2015 became the first woman to receive the RIBA Gold Medal in her own right. Her practice, founded in 1979, produced some of the most recognisable buildings of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, among them the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, the London Aquatics Centre built for the 2012 Olympic Games, and the MAXXI Museum in Rome.
The Volu Pavilion auction takes place at Hermitage Fine Art in Monaco on 8th April. Shipping, installation and applicable taxes are at the buyer’s expense. The work is subject to artist’s resale right.
Exclusive: Inside Le Schuylkill tower’s €185 million reinvention
Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.