When David Chu, creative director of the Danish design house Georg Jensen, was placed next to the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) during a dinner, he immediately noticed the jewelry she was wearing: large, sculptural rings and bracelets. It resulted in Danish jewelry designed by the Iraqi architect.
Just a few weeks after her collaboration with Georg Jensen, the star architect passed away. However, the line of silver jewelry inspired by the Wangjing SOHO complex she created in Beijing, is a wonderful example of jewels that blur the lines between artistic mediums.
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When the Danish silversmith Georg Jensen died in 1935, he was eulogized by the New York Herald as “the greatest silversmith of the last 300 years.” It was quite an endorsement, especially for the son of a Danish man who sharpened knives for a living. Jensen was the ultimate poster boy for apprenticeships, having apprenticed as a goldsmith aged 14 and graduated in sculpture aged 26.
The Zaha Hadid/Georg Jensen jewelry collection consists of five rings and three bracelets, in either sterling silver or black rhodium with black diamonds. Organic shapes, complex simplicity and play with light make the jewelry an echo of her life’s work.
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Despite her untimely death, Zaha Hadid managed to build a reputation as one of the foremost and most visionary architects of our time. The Lamellae Twisted Bangle by Georg Jensen is a breathtaking silver cuff, part of the Lamellae jewelry collection. It was described by the architect as the collection’s defining piece. Zaha created the jewelry collection using the same 3D techniques she applied to her building concepts.
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Today, the eight-piece collection, launched in 2016, is considered iconic and highly collectible
Danish Jewelry Designed by Iraqi Architect, written by Tor Kjolberg