Montpellier, France is home to the Pierres Vives Building by Zaha Hadid.

Hadid began designing Pierres Vives, which translates to “living stones,” nearly a decade ago, yet her vision has been maintained. In her designs, she placed the giant ship of the building at the center of an eponymous new urban district. The 28, 500-square-meter stone monolith houses various regional departments and facilities, including archives, a library, a sports center, and offices. On her firm’ssite, Hadid likens the form to a “‘tree of knowledge’ with three institutions unified within a single envelope.” She elaborated on the metaphor in an article published by the Le Moniteur, describing the core of the complex as a “tree trunk” from which different programmatic spaces branch.