Zaha Hadid's stage designs take the lead in a new London exhibition

A stage design has to do more than look convincing in a photograph. It must accommodate bodies, a changing viewpoint and time. The Zaha Hadid Foundation's forthcoming Architecture of Performance exhibition offers a way into that side of her work: its London listing runs from 3 November 2026 to 27 March 2027, bringing together projects made with musicians, choreographers and other production specialists. Read the Foundation's exhibition listing.

Wallpaper's 29 October preview brought the programme to PING's attention. The useful distinction for a reader is between a preview, a scheduled public exhibition and a visit that has actually happened. PING has not attended the preview, toured the refurbished spaces or watched the works in this exhibition. This is a source-based look at what its announced selection lets us ask about design.

Three things to know

• The exhibition is listed for 3 November 2026–27 March 2027 at 10 Bowling Green Lane in Clerkenwell.
• Its subject is performance design across five projects, rather than a complete survey of Hadid's buildings.
• The separate 30–31 October symposium and 5 November talk have their own arrangements; an exhibition listing is not a booking confirmation.

Follow the collaboration, not just the signature

The Foundation's selection stretches from Rosemary Butcher's d1 in 1989 and the Music Video Pavilion in 1990 to the Pet Shop Boys' Nightlife tour, Metapolis and the 2014 Così fan tutte production in Los Angeles. It says the display will use drawings, models, digital material, costume, photography and film. These are the organiser's descriptions of a forthcoming show, not PING's account of objects seen in the galleries.

For someone looking at the work, the first useful question is who had to use it. A stage may carry the name of a famous designer while depending on performers, fabricators, lighting teams and the people moving equipment. Following those relationships can be more revealing than deciding whether a curved outline looks familiar. Treat this as a viewing prompt: the programme description alone does not tell us which practical problems every collaboration solved.

Add time to the drawing

Try a small exercise before looking at a model: draw one space at three moments. Where is a performer waiting, where does the action happen, and what needs to change between them? Then draw the audience's view from two positions. This is PING's proposed design exercise, not a reconstruction of Hadid's staging or a tested production method. Its point is to make movement and a changing viewpoint explicit in a brief.

The exercise can travel further than the London exhibition. A cultural organiser or student in Lagos, Nairobi or Johannesburg can use the linked project descriptions as a starting question without pretending to have visited. The physical dates and access arrangements here concern London. We have not established an equivalent local exhibition, a livestream or remote access to the Foundation's collection films.

The public programme has separate doors

The Foundation also lists a conversation about the Nightlife collaboration with Ian MacNeil, Bergendy Cooke and Oliver Domeisen, moderated by Libby Sellers. It says entry is free but registration is required. A named conversation can offer a different route into a project from a displayed model, but its existence does not guarantee an interview opportunity or a place for a late arrival. Check the organiser's talk information.

Keep that 5 November event separate from the 89 Degrees of Zaha Hadid symposium listed for 30 and 31 October across the Architectural Association, the Foundation and the Serpentine. We have checked the announced programme, not attendance or whether every session has taken place. For an intended visit, follow the current organiser pages for dates, venue and registration rather than treating coverage of a preview as an invitation.

The exhibition's promise is an opportunity to follow how ideas move between drawings, people and live situations. Whether its display delivers that promise remains a question for a visit and a review. Before then, it offers a precise starting point: look at what a design allows people to do over time. Explore more source-led design coverage on PING's People desk.