Noted artist Sandra Muss has created, Nūr, an art installation to honor the late Zaha Hadid. The work titled “The Poetry Of Music And Design – An Homage To Zaha Hadid” will be unveiled tonight, February 26th, with a special performance by the Miami Symphony Orchestra at 6 pm.

Zaha Hadid was an architect and designer. As a designer, she worked with everyone from Chanel to Pharrell Williams. But she is most known for her architecture. Before her passing in 2016 Zaha Hadid was a living legend, she was the first woman awarded the Royal Gold Medal, she broke all boundaries in concept architecture, she was one of the most famous and most appreciated architects in the world.

The concert in her honor will take place in the Miami Design District’s historic Moore Building beneath Hadid’s “Elastika”, a sculpture designed by Hadid for the atrium in 2004. The concert will be the orchestra’s world premiere of “@Zaha’s Place”, inspired by Elastika and composed by Maestro Eduardo Marturet.

‘Elastika Study 7’ installation by Zaha Hadid in the Miami Design District.

Accompanying the performance, Muss will debut her installation. The piece is a vital part of the conversation between the music, the art and the audience. Named for the Arabic word for light, Nūr is a collection of three asymmetrical columns, that are eight, nine, and ten feet tall, fashioned out of mirrored steel, with undulating cutouts lit by interior lights.

Inspired by the natural world, these slivers of light appear organic, emerging from within the cool, sharp geometry of the columns. These apertures are inviting, and somewhat ethereal. Muss explains that, when creating this installation, she was inspired by Hadid’s brilliant mind, and the ingenuity and the dynamism that defined her work.

Nūr is a wholly immersive experience of art and music together. The work will be located behind the orchestra on the ground floor viewers can pass through as they enter the space, and also have the opportunity to walk around during the concert. The reflective surfaces of the columns allow the audience to catch fragmented glimpses of themselves and the orchestra, making them part of the space and also of the performance.

“I am excited and proud to have an artist of the stature and sensitivity of Sandra Muss creating a special work for the occasion”.
Maestro Eduardo Marturet

In addition to “@Zaha’s Place,” the concert program will include: Bach – Toccata & Fugue in D minor, LeFrak – Nothing Left, Marcello – Concerto for Oboe in D minor, Rachmaninov – Vocalise, Cage – 4’33”, and Holst – Mars & Jupiter.