Nordpark Cable Railway

Photo: Hélène Binet

Location: Innsbruck, Austria

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects

Photo: Roland Halbe

Zaha Hadid's trademark organic, futuristic forms are a modern touch of the Alpine scenery of Innsbruck, Austria. What some would call a brave intervention on the landscape, the designs make up four stations on the Nordpark Cable Railway.

Photo: Roland Halbe

However, these designs are not as distant from their surroundings as it might seem. According to Zaha Hadid Architects, the architecture used, a language known as 'shell and shadow', was inspired by natural ice formations. 'Lightweight organic roof structures float on concrete plinths, their soft shapes and contours creating an artificial landscape that describes the movement and circulation within,' say the architects.