Category: Visuals
Architecture
Country: Iraq

About

Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid found inspiration early on in life, among the Sumerian ruins in the south of Iraq. “The beauty of the landscape - where sand, water, reeds, birds, buildings and people all somehow flowed together”¹ has inspired the innovative architecture that has made her the world’s most famous female architect.² 

Critic and architect Joseph Giovannini describes Hadid’s style as “off the drawing board.”  She “abandoned the regularity of the T-square and parallel rule” in creating buildings that are asymmetrical and seemingly gravity-defying.³ 

In 2004 she became the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize that honors living architects “whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision, and commitment, which has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture.”⁴  The impact of her contributions also won her a spot on the 2008 Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women.

Some of her notable works include a fire station she designed for the premises of designer furniture manufacturer Vitra in Germany, a ski jump at Bergisel in Innsbruck, Austria, the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, and the Guangzhou Opera House in China. 

Though her built work consists primarily of cultural projects—museums, galleries, and venues—she reveals in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian a passion for designing schools, hospitals, and housing.  “Of course,” she says, “I believe imaginative architecture can make a difference to people’s lives, but I wish it was possible to divert some of the effort we put into ambitious museums and galleries into the basic architectural building blocks of society.”

[1] “‘I don’t do nice,’”  The Guardian.
[2] “Hadid finally wins Stirling Prize,” Financial Times.
[3] “The Architecture of Zaha Hadid,” Hyatt Foundation.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/962728c2-cec0-11df-9be2-00144feab49a.html#axzz1JtsCC8dl
[4] “Zaha Hadid 2004 Laureate: Biography,”  Hyatt Foundation.