Internationally acclaimed as one of the most innovative and influential architects of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Dame Zaha Hadid redefined the language of contemporary design.
Born in Baghdad in 1950, she studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving to London in 1972 to attend the Architectural Association. There she studied under Rem Koolhaas, who described her as “a planet in her own orbit” recognising the radical creativity that would come to characterise her career.
Hadid established her own practice in London in 1979, initially gaining attention through bold, visionary drawings that challenged conventional ideas of space, perspective and form. Her early unbuilt projects, such as The Peak in Hong Kong (1983), were celebrated for their audacious, almost otherworldly geometry. In 1993, she realised her first major commission, the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany, a work that announced her as a leading force in global architecture.
Over the following decades, Hadid completed landmark projects across the world: the MAXXI Museum in Rome (2010), the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics, and the Guangzhou Opera House in China, among many others. Her designs are distinguished by sweeping curves, fluid forms, and a mastery of new technologies and materials, establishing a futuristic aesthetic that remains unmistakably her own.
The first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, Hadid was later awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 2016, cementing her legacy as a pioneer who expanded the possibilities of architecture. Beyond her built works, she collaborated across disciplines, producing furniture, jewellery, and limited-edition design objects, works that today attract international collectors at auction.
Hadid passed away unexpectedly in 2016, but her practice, Zaha Hadid Architects, continues to shape skylines worldwide.
