Our March Design Trailblazer is Zaha Hadid (1950 - 2016), the famous Iraqi-British Modern Architect known for her futuristic and thought provoking structures.
Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950. Zaha Hadid studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut and in 1972 she attended the Architectural Association School, in London. She taught at the AA School until 1987 and while teaching she founded Zaha Architects in 1979 which still remains open today and is known as one of the world’s most inventive architectural studios (and has been for almost 40 years).
Zaha Hadid’s structures are known for their distinct style and form. Her structures are characterized by beautiful curving facades and sharp angles using strong materials such as concrete, steel and stone. Her gift was using these strong materials and making them look effortlessly soft and sturdy at the same time. Some of her structures are described as frozen in motion and we can see why. The structures transform depending on the viewer’s perspective and ignite excitement, curiosity, and wonder at every angle.
Admirers and those who knew Zaha Hadid best said she had a determination, unwavering optimism, and belief in the power of invention (with advanced design), that can be seen in each of her futuristic structures. Her work and contribution to the architectural profession is celebrated and acknowledged by professional, academic and civil institutions around the world and is admired by everyone who experiences her structures in person.
"I don't think that architecture is only about shelter, is only about a very simple enclosure. It should be able to excite you, to calm you, to make you think."— Zaha Hadid
Some of Zaha Hadid’s Accomplishments:
- Forbes List of the ‘World’s Most Powerful Women’
- Japan Art Association presented her with ‘Praemium Imperiale’, a global arts prize awarded annually
- UNESCO named Hadid an ‘Artist for Peace’
- Republic of France honored Hadid with the ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’, a significant contribution to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance
- 2004 - Awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is considered the Nobel Prize of architecture
- 2006 - Zaha Hadid’s work was subject of critically-acclaimed exhibition at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- 2007 - Zaha Hadid’s work was subject of critically-acclaimed exhibition at London’s Design Museum
- 2010 - TIME magazine included her in the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’, naming her the world’s top thinker.
- 2010 - Zaha Hadid’s designs were awarded the Striling Prive, one of architecture’s highest accolades, by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
- 2012 - Zaha Hadid was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II
- 2015 - Zaha Hadid’s work was subject of critically-acclaimed exhibitions at Saint Petersburg’s Stated Hermitage Museum
- 2016 - Zaha Hadid’s work was subject of critically-acclaimed exhibitions at London’s Serpentine Galleries
- 2016 - Received the Royal Gold Medal
Some of Zaha Hadid’s structures that appear frozen in motion:
Clad in reinforced concrete and polyester, the 619,000-square-foot Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, is known for its swooping façade.
Galaxy Soho, a retail, office, and entertainment complex in Beijing, comprises four spherical structures clad in aluminum and stone that are bound together by pedestrian bridges.
Michigan State University's campus was never the same after Zaha Hadid completed her design for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. Opened in 2012, the contemporary art museum appears frozen in motion.
The Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion, built in 2008, doubles as a pedestrian bridge across the Ebro River in Zaragoza, Spain. The building’s exterior, comprising 29,000 triangles, is composed of fiberglass-reinforced concrete.
Article References:
