Trailblazing Architect Dame Zaha Hadid Dies at 65
She twice won the RIBA Stirling Prize and, in 2004, became the first woman to win architecture’s highest honour, the Pritzker Prize
Mitchell Parker
1 April 2016
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
Dame Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-British architect whose curvaceous, dreamy, futuristic and ambitious structures helped her become the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the field’s highest honour, died in Miami on Thursday. She suffered a sudden heart attack in a hospital while being treated for bronchitis, according to a statement released by her London office. She was 65.
Riverside Museum, Glasgow, Scotland
Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950. At the age of 22, she began studying architecture at the Architectural Association in London. Seven years later, in 1979, she opened her own practice in London, but would struggle for more than a decade to gain a commission due to her radical designs.
Once things took off, though, she continued to push the boundaries in her work, with theoretical structures that included The Peak in Hong Kong (1983), the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin (1986) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994), her office’s statement said. More recently, she created the iconic Aquatic Centre for the London 2012 Olympics, and was made a Dame the same year in the Queen’s birthday honours.
Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950. At the age of 22, she began studying architecture at the Architectural Association in London. Seven years later, in 1979, she opened her own practice in London, but would struggle for more than a decade to gain a commission due to her radical designs.
Once things took off, though, she continued to push the boundaries in her work, with theoretical structures that included The Peak in Hong Kong (1983), the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin (1986) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994), her office’s statement said. More recently, she created the iconic Aquatic Centre for the London 2012 Olympics, and was made a Dame the same year in the Queen’s birthday honours.
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Library and Learning Centre, Vienna
In 2004, she became the first woman to win the Pritzker, calling the prize ‘an acknowledgment that [my] work was not in a fantasia…. What was seen 20 years ago as extreme ideas are now actually achievable.’
She also won several other prestigious awards, including the UK’s top architecture honour, the RIBA Stirling Prize, which Hadid won twice. This year, she also became the first woman to be awarded RIBA’s royal gold medal for architecture.
In 2004, she became the first woman to win the Pritzker, calling the prize ‘an acknowledgment that [my] work was not in a fantasia…. What was seen 20 years ago as extreme ideas are now actually achievable.’
She also won several other prestigious awards, including the UK’s top architecture honour, the RIBA Stirling Prize, which Hadid won twice. This year, she also became the first woman to be awarded RIBA’s royal gold medal for architecture.
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Library and Learning Centre, Vienna
Her stadium design for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was scrapped last summer amid extremely high projected costs, according to The New York Times. She also designed apartments that will soon border the High Line elevated park in New York City, the newspaper says.
‘She was truly a pioneer in the field of architecture,’ said the Pritzker Architecture Prize foundation in a statement. ‘Zaha Hadid will be remembered for her talent, creativity, commitment, loyalty and friendship.’
Her stadium design for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was scrapped last summer amid extremely high projected costs, according to The New York Times. She also designed apartments that will soon border the High Line elevated park in New York City, the newspaper says.
‘She was truly a pioneer in the field of architecture,’ said the Pritzker Architecture Prize foundation in a statement. ‘Zaha Hadid will be remembered for her talent, creativity, commitment, loyalty and friendship.’
Pierresvives, Montpellier, France
Details of Hadid’s memorial service will be announced soon through her office’s website.
Details of Hadid’s memorial service will be announced soon through her office’s website.
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She was among the greatest architects of our time. R.I.P.