LICEUL TEORETIC NICOLAE IORGA BUCURESTI

Zaha Hadid
A unique figure in British architecture

LUCRARE DE ATESTAT
CANDIDAT: Niculescu Ana Gabriela Clasa aXII-a B
PROFESOR COORDONATOR: Nicoleta Vitalariu

Table of Contents

I.
II.
III.
IV.

Argument
Introduction
Zaha Hadid - Early life
Career
1. Architectiral work
1.1 Conceptual projects
1.2 Completed projects
1.3 Ongoing projects
2. Teaching
3. Interior architecture and product design

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.

Non-architectural work
1. Museum exhibitions

Criticism
Awards, nominations and recognition
Final Considerations
Bibliography

I.

Argument

I remember hearing for the first time about Zaha Hadid while I was
preparing for college. My architecture tutor was teaching me about
dynamic-fluid-curving shapes and he told me to imagine special,
unique forms by trying to forget about what is real or possible in
architecture. He suggested that I should think about nature, music or a
sensation, like that of the wind or the water touching your skin and to
turn that feeling into architecture shapes. This was really hard for me
until I saw Zaha Hadid's work. I had a feeling that she was completely
compelling in terms of thinking about things differently. I really liked
her work, and maybe that was her greatest, unique contribution as she
was able to mobilize a part of the past to construct the future, in a kind
of seamlessness that was almost as seamless as her work became. Her
work has inspired me and made me fall in love with architecture once
again because the feelings that she expressed through her work really
resonated with my artistic, not-so-strict person. No one can deny the
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bold and original architectural statement Zaha Hadid has left on the
landscape. Sometimes cited as creatively controversial, she was not
afraid to push boundaries.
As she was an inspiration for so many people and an idol, I was very
sad when I heard about her death. She was like architectures comet,
shooting out of the firmament as if from nowhere, and now just as
suddenly gone, vanished, the likes of her luminous talent not to
reappear again for generations. She left a legacy behind, a great
contribution in the world's history, changing the way architecture is
seen nowadays. She liberated architecture geometry with the creation
of highly expressive, seeping fluid form of multiple perspective points
and fragmented geometry that evoke the chaos and flux of modern
life. She inspires me not only in terms of architecture, but also to live
my life differently as her work encourages people to get closer to
nature, to be healthier, to do sports, to learn, to evolve and to love, as
she believes The masses have to become once more the client of
architecture.
I have decided to write about Zaha Hadid as she was the worlds most
accomplished female architect, a force of nature and a gift to the world
of art, her lifetime achievements proving that her design will last
forever. Moreover, she still is one of the main reasons I truly appreciate
architecture as an art form. She inspires me to research more, to
enrich my architectural knowledge, to make my own creation in order
to inspire people the way she did. Her art helped me to open my mind,
to see the world in such a beautiful way that I believe anything is
possible, so I consider she truly fulfilled her purpose to inspire people
through architecture.

II. Introduction
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, was an Iraqi architect. She was the first
Arab woman who received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, winning it in
2004. She received the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she
was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and
in 2015 she became the first woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold
Medal in her own right.
Hadid liberated architectural geometry with the creation of highly
expressive, sweeping fluid forms of multiple perspective points and

fragmented geometry that evoke the chaos and flux of modern life. A
pioneer of parametricism, and an icon of neo-futurism, with a
formidable personality, her acclaimed work and ground-breaking forms
include the aquatic center for the London 2012 Olympics, the Broad Art
Museum in the U.S., and the Guangzhou, China opera house. On 31
March 2016, Hadid died of a heart attack in a Miami hospital, where
she was being treated for bronchitis.
She was born in Iraq in 1950 and then she moved to England. She went
to school in Switzerland and did a degree in mathematics at the
American University in Beirut. Hadid enrolled at the Architectural
Association in London in 1972, where she was taught by Rem Koolhaas
and Elia Zenghelis, teachers and architects from the OMA - Office for
Metropolitan Architecture.
Often named as the most prominent contemporary female architect, or
singled out for notice because of her Iraqi Arab background, Hadid is
significant beyond these accidents of birth for her intellectual
toughness, her refusal to compromise on her ideas even when very few
of them were being realized in concrete and steel. For many years, her
designs filled the pages of architecture periodicals but were dismissed
as impractical or as too radical and Hadid even thought about giving
up architecture after she suffered a major rejection in her adopted
homeland of Britain in 1995. Her star began to rise internationally
when her design for Cincinnati, Ohio's new Center for Contemporary
Art was selected and built, earning worldwide acclaim. By the mid2000s Hadid employed nearly 150 people in her London office and was
working hard to keep up with new commissions that were coming in,
offering her a chance to help reshape the world architectural
landscape.

III. Zaha Hadid - Early life

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Zaha M. Hadid grew up in a well-educated

Islamic family oriented toward Western multiculturalism. Her father
was an executive and, for a time, the leader of a liberal Iraqi political
party. The drawing ability that would later attract attention in art
3

museums was first absorbed from her mother. Hadid's interest in

architecture had roots in a trip her family took to the ancient Sumer
region in southern Iraq, the site of one of the world's oldest
civilizations, when she was a teenager. "My father took us to see the
Sumerian cities," she told Jonathan Glancey of London's Guardian
newspaper. "Then we went by boat, and then on a smaller one made of
reeds, to visit villages in the marshes. The beauty of the landscape
where sand, water, reeds, birds, buildings, and people all somehow
flowed togetherhas never left me. I'm trying to discoverinvent, I
supposean architecture, and forms of urban planning, that do
something of the same thing in a contemporary way."
Zaha Hadid On childhood: When I was growing up, mathematics was
an everyday part of life, as well as drawing, or listening to music and
reading books. My parents instilled in me a passion for discovery, and
they never made a distinction between science and creativity. We
would play with math problems just as we would play with paper to
draw, or listening to music and reading a book, math was like
sketching.

Hadid attended a Catholic school where French was spoken and nuns
served as instructors, but which was religiously diverse. As Hadid told
Newsweek 's Cathleen McGuigan, "the Muslim and Jewish girls
could go out to play when the other girls went to chapel."
Hadid's family expected her to pursue a professional career, and she
studied math at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon. Her family
left Iraq after the rise of dictator Saddam Hussein and the outbreak of
war with neighboring Iran, but she has retained ties to both Iraq and

Lebanon and has at times had difficulty talking to interviewers about

the ongoing violence in her home region.
In 1972 Hadid moved to London (later becoming a British citizen) and
enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. She
has never married nor had children. "If [architecture] doesn't kill
you, then you're no good," she explained to Glancey. "I mean, really
you have to go at it full time. You can't afford to dip in and out." By
1977 Hadid had received her degree, along with a special Diploma
Prize, and she began working for a London firm, the Office of
Metropolitan Architecture, founded by one of her key teachers, the
similarly daring Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. One of her student
projects was a design for a hotel built atop the span of London's
Hungerford Bridge.
Hadid opened an office of her own in 1980, but at first her ideas were
more in demand than her actual designs. Hadid taught courses at the
Architectural Association and filled notebooks with one-of-a-kind ideas,
some of which were published in architecture magazines or exhibited
in galleries. Hadid began to enter design competitions, some of them
research-oriented and others for buildings intended for construction.
Her design for The Peak, a sports club jutting out horizontally from one
of the mountain slopes that surround the city of Hong Kong, won the
top prize in the institution's competition, but the building was never
constructed. Hadid's competition entries in the 1980s and early 1990s
were little known to the public at large but stirred up interest among
her fellow architects, and even after she became famous, her website
continued to list her competition prizes before focusing on her actual
building projects. Hadid opened an office of her own in 1980, but at
first her ideas were more in demand than her actual designs. Hadid
taught courses at the Architectural Association and filled notebooks
with one-of-a-kind ideas, some of which were published in architecture
magazines or exhibited in galleries. Hadid began to enter design
competitions, some of them research-oriented and others for buildings
intended for construction. Her design for The Peak, a sports club jutting
out horizontally from one of the mountain slopes that surround the city
of Hong Kong, won the top prize in the institution's competition, but
the building was never constructed..

IV. Career
1.Architectural work
5

Hadid established her own London-based architecture practice in 1980.

Her international reputation was greatly enhanced in 1988 by a
showing of impressive architecture drawings as part of the
groundbreaking exhibition "Deconstructivism in Architecture" curated
by Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley at New York's Museum of Modern
Art.
After several small projects, including one for the interior of the
Moonsoon Restaurant in Sapporo, Japan, Hadid's first major building
was constructed in 1993 and 1994: it was a small fire station, with
numerous irregular angles (Hadid has been widely quoted as saying
that since there are 360 degrees, she sees no reason to restrict herself
to just one), on the grounds of the Vitra Furniture Company in Weil am
Rhein, Germany. In 1994 Hadid seemed to be on the verge of a
breakthrough: her design for the new Cardiff Bay Opera House in
Britain's Wales region was selected for construction. It was to be an
unorthodox building, with sharp angles and interior spaces that ran
into and through one another rather than falling neatly into separate
areas, but it was also planned to be inviting to the user, with an
auditorium surrounded by glassed-in spaces that gave views of nearby
Cardiff Bay.
With Hadid an unknown quantity and Britain's Prince Charles in the
midst of a widely publicized campaign in favor of neo-traditional
architecture in Britain, the design ran into trouble almost immediately.
The design competition was reopened, and Hadid's design was once
again named the winner, but the project's funder, Britain's National
Lottery, eventually withdrew its commitment. Hadid was devastated.
"It was such a depressing time," she recalled to Rowan Moore of the
London Evening Standard. "I didn't look very depressed maybe but it
was really dire. I made a conscious decision not to stop, but it could
have gone the other way."
At the same time, Hadid began to amass a solid core of admirers
among her staff, among architecture experts, and among ordinary
observers. At the same time the Cardiff project was going down in
flames, Hadid designed a temporary pavilion to house an exhibit for
the architecture magazine Blueprint at a builders' convention. She had
to present the structure, described by Moore as "a thing of flying
steel," to a gathering of the magazine's advertisers, most of whom
greeted it initially with silence. But an executive from a firm that made
portable toilets stood up and said "I think it's bloody marvelous"

(according to Moore), and began applauding. The other advertisers

joined in, and Hadid gained a moment in the building-trade spotlight.
As clients became more and more fascinated with Hadid's plans, some
of the plans advanced from theory to reality. She designed the unique
Bergisel Ski Jump on a mountain near Innsbruck, Austria, and a parking
garage and transit station in suburban Strasbourg, France, that later
won the Mies van der Rohe Award from the European Union. In 1998
came the biggest commission yet: the Lois and Richard Rosenthal
Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, popularly known as the
Contemporary Arts Center.
Hadid's creative fulfillment of a plum commission raised her
international profile considerably. Where Hadid had sometimes been
considered abrasive and difficult to work with, now she was hailed as a
pioneer who had stuck to her vision even while facing difficult
obstacles. At times, Hadid ascribed the resistance her ideas
encountered to her gender and ethnicity. She also conceded that her
work and personality were challenging. "I am eccentric, I admit it," she
told Moore, "but I am not a nutcase."
Indeed, the links between building and environment, and between
building and user, loomed larger in Hadid's thinking as her fame grew
and commissions poured into her office. "I started out trying to create
buildings that would sparkle like isolated jewels; now I want them to
connect, to form a new kind of landscape, to flow together with
contemporary cities and the lives of their peoples," she told Glancey. A
new factory she designed for German automa- ker BMW was laid out in
such a way that workers and management personnel crossed paths
more frequently.
In 2004 Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered
the profession's highest honor. She was the first woman to receive the
award. In the mid-2000s she finally received a full-scale commission in
the British Isles, for a cancer-care building called Maggie's Centre in
Fife, Scotland. Highly visible Hadid buildings planned or underway
included a bridge in the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi, a movie
theater complex in Barcelona, Spain, and several new museums.
Greater international exposure seemed assured in a project waiting
further down the line: the aquatics building for the 2012 Summer
Olympics to be held in London. And she seemed to be outdoing herself
with each successive design. "Co-curator Monica Montagut quotes
Hadid's statement that 'I still believe in the impossible,'" noted
7

Raymund Ryan in his Architectural Review commentary of Hadid's

Guggenheim exhibition. "Judging from this display in New York City,
there are few limits to what Hadid might do next."

1.1 Conceptual projects

Cardiff Bay Opera House (1995), Cardiff, Wales not realized- a proposed
centre for the performing arts in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales, conceived in the
1990s as a crucial part of the Cardiff Bay redevelopment project. One aim
was of the scheme was the creation of a new home for the Welsh National
Opera company, which was then based in the New Theatre in Cardiff. The
Wales Millennium Centre was built in its place and it opened in 2004.

Signature Towers (2006) - Signature Towers (formerly known as Dancing

Towers) was a proposal for a three-tower, mixed-use complex in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates. It was designed by Zaha Hadid after winning an international
design competition which included proposals from OMA and Reiser &
Umemoto among others. The developers were Dubai Properties, the company
responsible for the earlier Jumeirah Beach Residence.

1.2.

Completed projects (selection)

Vitra Fire Station (1994), Weil am Rhein, Germany

These are the concepts, in the words of the study itself, used to
develop the building: "We started our project with a total study site
that is implanted in the factory. Our intention was to deploy elements
of the project so that would not be lost among the huge sheds of the
ships that make up the factory. We also use these elements to
structure the entire site, giving identity and rhythm to the main street
that runs through the complex. "
It was conceived as a longitudinal garden, as if it were the artificial
extension of the linear patterns of the adjacent farmland and
vineyards.
The building was not designed as an isolated object, but developed as
the outer edge of the garden area, defining the space rather than
occupying space.
This was achieved through the provision of the program on a stretched,
in a long, narrow building next to the road that marks the edge of the
factory. Space, defining and accommodating the functions of the
building, was the starting point for the development of architectural
concept, a linear series and stratified.

Guangzhou Opera House (2010), Guangzhou, People's Republic

of China

10

Architect Zaha Hadid gave shape to this structure so that resembled

two stones on the bank of Pearl River. The design of the Opera House
is a unique exploration of contextual urban relationships Zaha Hadid
Architects, combining the cultural traditions that have shaped the
history of Guangzhou, with the ambition and optimism that will create
its future.
The design evolved from the concepts of a natural landscape and the
fascinating interplay between architecture and nature, agreeing with
the principles of erosion, geology and topography. The design of the
Guangzhou Opera has been particularly influenced by river valleys
and how they are transformed by erosion.
Fold lines in this landscape define territories and zones within the
Opera House, both inside and outside dramatic canyons for
circulation, lobbies and cafes are created, allowing natural light to
penetrate deep into the building. Smooth transitions between
disparate elements and different levels continue this landscape
analogy.

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre (200712) in Baku, Azerbaijan

11

The structure accompanying Hadid variations within the unit. With a

continuous self- processing design in all directions, there is little sense
of limits, and no indication of completion is an immersion in a bath of
space. The immateriality of a building varies between white, whiter
and even whiter depending on the incidence of the sun on their
surfaces giving a weightless character, releasing gravitational
obligations. As an object, the building is subjective, causing strong
feelings triggered by the suspension of physical gravity.
With a slight look the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center gives the feeling
of being whole, without structure, but their shapes mask extreme
engineering. An agile spatial structure of two layers is the main
support of the double jacket which are smoothly curved along the top
and bottom of the outer casing, the structural frame and concealing
emphasizing the surface rather structure, as if the building was all
effect and not cause.
Heydar Aliyev Center represents a fluid form that emerges by the
folding of the natural topography of the landscape and the wrapping
of individual functions within. All features, together with the inputs are
represented by folds in one continuous outer surface. This gives the
opportunity fluidly connecting the various cultural spaces and at the
same time provide each member of the Centre its own identity and
privacy. Following the inner folds, skin erodes to become an element
of the interior landscape of the Centre
London Aquatics Centre (2011), 2012 Summer Olympics,
London, United Kingdom
12

A concept inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion,

creating spaces and a surrounding environment in sympathy with
the river landscapes of the Olympic Park. An undulating roof
sweeps up from the ground as a wavy, enclosing the pools of the
Centre with its unifying gesture.
The architectural concept of the London Aquatic Centre is inspired
by the fluid geometries of water in motion, creating spaces and a
surrounding environment that reflect the riverside landscapes of
the Olympic Park. An undulating roof sweeps up from the ground
as a wave - enclosing the pools of the Centre with a unifying
gesture of fluidity, while also describing the volume of the
swimming and diving pools.
This podium element contains of a variety of differentiated and
cellular programmes within a single architectural volume which is
seen to be completely assimilated with the bridge. The podium
emerges from the bridge to cascade around the pool hall to the
lower level of the canal.

1.3.

Ongoing projects (selection)

13

Bee'ah Headquarters

The 7,000-square-metre building will be constructed in Sharjah, in

the north of the United Arab Emirates, and will house the
administrative and public activities of the company, which
specialises in waste management.
Entirely powered by renewable energy sources, the proposed
building has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to resemble "a
series of intersecting dunes" orientated to follow the direction of the
prevailing Shamal winds.
The two largest dune forms will house the management offices,
visitor facilities and administration department. Where the forms
overlap, a protected courtyard will offer a breakout space for staff.
According to Bee'ah, this "oasis" will provide the building's interiors
with "high quality daylight and views" whilst limiting the amount of
glazing exposed to the harsh sun. The curving exterior walls will be
clad in materials selected for their ability to reflect the sun's rays.
Parts of this skin and the building's structure will have standard
orthogonal dimensions, allowing them to be constructed from
reclaimed materials sourced from local construction and demolition
waste.

Mariners Cove Towers

14

Zaha Hadid has designed her second set of skyscrapers for Australia
a pair of sinuous towers that will be constructed beside the harbour in
Gold Coast, Queensland.The London-based architect has been
appointed by Australian developer Sunland Group to create the pair of
towers as part of the redevelopment of Mariner's Cove, best known as
the home of the Sea World resort.
The two 44-storey structures will accommodate 370 apartments in
total as well as a boutique hotel with 69 suites.
Both are designed by Hadid to feature sculptural curved glass forms,
reminiscent of muscle sinews, and will be raised up over a curved
podium.
"Each residential tower is designed as if it were an organic, living form,
with sinuous lines interlacing upwards from the tapered base, creating
a sense of flow and movement," said Sunland managing director Sahba
Abedian.
"This vibrancy is further brought to life by the reflection and interaction
of the glass facade with its stunning setting."
Described by the developer as "the city's first privately-owned cultural
precinct dedicated to the arts", the complex will also include an art
gallery, a museum and several sculpture gardens, as well as shops,
restaurants and an underground aquarium.

2.Teaching

15

In the mid-1980s, Hadid taught at the Harvard Graduate School of

Design, where she held the Kenzo Tange Professorship, and at the
Architectural Association.
In the 1990s, she held the Sullivan Chair professorship at the
University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Architecture. At various
times, she served as guest professor at the Hochschule fr bildende
Knste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg), the Knowlton School of Architecture
at Ohio State University, the Masters Studio at Columbia University,
and was the Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at
the Yale School of Architecture. From 2000, Hadid was a guest
professor at the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied
Arts Vienna, in the Zaha Hadid Master Class Vertical-Studio.
Hadid was named an honorary member of the American Academy of
Arts and Letters and an honorary fellow of the American Institute of
Architects. She was on the board of trustees of The Architecture
Foundation.

3. Interior architecture and product design

Hadid also undertook some high-profile interior work, including the
Mind Zone at the Millennium Dome in London as well as creating fluid
furniture installations within the Georgian surroundings of Home House
private members club in Marylebone, and the Z.CAR hydrogenpowered, three-wheeled automobile. In 2009 she worked with the
clothing brand Lacoste, to create a new, high fashion, and advanced
boot.[ In the same year, she also collaborated with the brassware
manufacturer Triflow Concepts to produce two new designs in her
signature parametric architectural style.
In 2007, Hadid designed Dune Formations for David Gill Gallery and the
Moon System Sofa for leading Italian furniture manufacturer B&B Italia.
In 2013, Hadid designed Liquid Glacial for David Gill Gallery which
comprises a series of tables resembling ice-formations made from clear
and coloured acrylic. Their design embeds surface complexity and
refraction within a powerful fluid dynamic. The collection was further
extended in 2015.

16

The Seoul Tea Service

Inspired by the ancient traditions of Korean culture and lifestyle, the

tea service designed by Zaha Hadid Architects has re-interpreted the
ceremonial aspects inherent to Koreas way of life throughout history
into a fluid, seamless vision of the future both through material and
form utilizing digital design and fabrication processes to realize their
transformation.
The Seoul Tea Service is the latest product design by Zaha Hadid
Architects, which was commissioned by NY Projects in 2009. The
service is made out of ceramic while the textured case that resembles
a spaceship is carbon fiber. The fluid and dynamic form of the set is
based on the exploration of movement through space.
Art Borders Wallpaper

Zaha Hadid has designed four collections for leading wall-covering

innovator, Marburg Wallcoverings as part of the exclusive ART
BORDERS series. Unique signature designs, 9m in width and 3.3m in
height, set rooms in motion, multiplying and compressing space.
Complimentary drawings, with no definitive beginning nor end,
dematerialize walls into endless canvases of dynamic visualizations of
great depth.
17

Lacoste Shoes

The Zaha Hadid for Lacoste footwear collaboration began with a

digitized interpretation of surfaces with repeated patterns. The design
expression behind the collaboration with Lacoste footwear allows the
evolution of dynamic fluid grids. When wrapped around the shape of a
foot, these expand and contract to negotiate and adapt to the body
ergonomically.
The limited edition closure system features a bi-stable snapping metal
band encased in the leather mstrap at the upper-most end. This
responsive band gently wraps and secures itself at ankle height in the
mens limited edition and at knee height in the womens limited
edition. The unique Zaha Hadid for Lacoste logo appears on the side of
the heel and on the in-sock. The women boots are available in black
and purple, while the men come in black and navy.

Unique Circle Yachts

18

The design concept is based around the sculptural form of a master prototype
conceived for a 128m yacht. The Unique Circle Yachts by Zaha Hadid is a
family of five individual yachts that creatively explore the design philosophies
of the technical requirement of fully-engineered yacht design.
As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a
yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture
which all become much more extreme on water. Each yacht is an engineered
platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands
together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety,
explained Hadid.
The idea of the Unique Circle Yachts allows for variation of a genotype and
its phenotypes, offering a range of possible solutions based on a cognate
platform. As a result Zaha Hadids design is malleable to suit the very
individual wishes and needs of a potential customer which lies at the heart of
Blohm+Voss approach to yacht design. The strength of the design lies not
just in its functionality and form, but also its effortless adaptability.

V.

Non-architectural work

1. Museum exhibitions

19

2001 Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (de)

2002 (10 May 11 August) Centro nazionale per le arti

contemporanee, Rome[47]

2003 (4 May 17 August) MAK Museum fr angewandte

Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) in Vienna

2006 (3 June 25 October) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New

York

2006 (1 June 29 July) Ma10 Mx Protetch Gallery, Chelsea, NYC

2007 (29 June 25 November) Design Museum, London

2007 Dune Formations with David Gill Gallery Venice Biennale

2011/12 (20 September 25 March) Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion at

the Philadelphia Museum of Art

2012 Liquid Glacial David Gill Gallery, London

2013 (29 June 29 September) Zaha Hadid: World Architecture at

the Danish Architecture Center

2015 (27 June 27 September) Zaha Hadid at the State Hermitage

Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

VI. Criticism
Hadid's architectural language has been described by some as
"famously extravagant" with many of her projects sponsored by
"dictator states". Rowan Moore described Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Center
as "not so different from the colossal cultural palaces long beloved of
Soviet and similar regimes". Architect Sean Griffiths characterised
Hadid's work as "an empty vessel that sucks in whatever ideology
might be in proximity to it". Art historian Maike Aden criticises in
particular the foreclosure of Zaha Hadid's architecture of the MAXXI in
Rome towards the public and the urban life that undermines even the
most impressive program to open the museum.
20

As the architect of a stadium to be used for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,
Hadid defended her involvement in the project, despite revelations
relating to the working conditions imposed on migrant workers in
Qatar. She acknowledged that there was a serious problem with the
number of migrant workers who have died during construction work
related to the World Cup. She said that she believed it was a problem
for the Qatari government to resolve:
"I have nothing to do with the workers", said Zaha. "I think that's an
issue the governmentif there's a problemshould pick up. Hopefully,
these things will be resolved." Asked if she was concerned, Zaha
added: "Yes, but I'm more concerned about the deaths in Iraq as well,
so what do I do about that? I'm not taking it lightly but I think it's for
the government to look to take care of. It's not my duty as an architect
to look at it. I cannot do anything about it because I have no power to
do anything about it. I think it's a problem anywhere in the world. But,
as I said, I think there are discrepancies all over the world."
In August 2014, Hadid sued The New York Review of Books for
defamation for publishing an article which included this quote and
allegedly accused her of "showing no concern" for the deaths of
workers in Qatar. Immediately thereafter, the reviewer and author of
the piece in which she was accused of showing no concern issued a
retraction in which he said "...work did not begin on the site for the Al
Wakrah stadium, until two months after Ms Hadid made those
comments; and construction is not scheduled to begin until 2015....
There have been no worker deaths on the Al Wakrah project and Ms
Hadid's comments about Qatar that I quoted in the review had nothing
to do with the Al Wakrah site or any of her projects. I regret the error."

VII. Awards, nominations and recognition

In 2002, Hadid won the international design competition to design
Singapore's one-north master plan. In 2004, Hadid became the first
female and first Iraqi recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In
2005, her design won the competition for the new city casino of Basel,
Switzerland. In 2006, she was honoured with a retrospective spanning
her entire work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York; that year she
also received an Honorary Degree from the American University of
Beirut.

21

In 2008, she ranked 69th on the Forbes list of "The World's 100 Most
Powerful Women". In 2010, she was named by Time as an influential
thinker in the 2010 TIME 100 issue.
In September 2010, New Statesman listed Zaha Hadid at number 42 in
their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".
Hadid was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in 2002 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(DBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to architecture.
She was listed as one of the "50 Best-Dressed over 50" by the
Guardian in March 2013.Three years later, she was assessed as one of
the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC
Radio 4.
She won the Stirling Prize two years running: in 2010, for one of her
most celebrated works, the MAXXI in Rome, and in 2011 for the Evelyn
Grace Academy, a Z-shaped school in Brixton, London.]She also
designed the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park in Seoul, South Korea,
which was the centerpiece of the festivities for the city's designation as
World Design Capital 2010. In 2014, the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre,
designed by her, won the Design Museum Design of the Year Award,
making her the first woman to win the top prize in that competition.
In January 2015, she was nominated for the Services to Science and
Engineering award at the British Muslim Awards.

Other awards and honours:

2005: German Architecture Prize for the central building of the BMW
plant in Leipzig
2005: Designer of the Year Award for Design Miami
2005: RIBA European Award for BMW Central Building
2006: RIBA European Award for Phaeno Science Centre
2007: Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture
2008: RIBA European Award for Nordpark Cable Railway
2009: Praemium Imperiale
2010: RIBA European Award for MAXXI
2012: Jane Drew Prize for her "outstanding contribution to the status of
women in architecture"
2012: Jury member for the awarding of the Pritzker Prize to Wang Shu
in Los Angeles.
2013: 41st Winner of the Veuve Clicquot UK Business Woman Award

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2013: Elected international member, American Philosophical

Society

She was also on the editorial board of the Encyclopdia Britannica.

VIII. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

In conclusion, I consider Zaha Hadid was a complex and
original artist, her style was so unique that everything she
created seems to be from another world; her drawings seem
to be like portals from the future because she worked with
an expressionist logic to assemble and coordinate the lines
of force and flow and strong bursts of energy, making her
buildings seem to be alive and in balance with nature. The
new volumes interact with the entire surrounding. The city
flows inwards, while the project flows outwards. Her designs
filled the pages of architecture periodicals but her creations
were so futuristic that were dismissed as impractical or as
too radical. She was known as the architect who designed
unbuildable buildings. She liberated architecture geometry
with the creation of highly expressive, seeping fluid form of
multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry that
evoke the chaos and flux of modern life.
She was a real icon in the world of architecture,
groundbreaking in her way to create, with a very distinctive
style.

IX. Bibliography
Hans Ulrich Obrist & Zaha Hadid: The Conversation Series: Vol. 8

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by Hans Ulrich Obrist

Zaha Hadid: Complete Works, 1979-2009 by Philip Jodidio
Dezeen, architecture and design magazine
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/06/15/zaha-hadid-pair-tapered-towersskyscrapers-gold-coast-queensland-australia/
http://culturenlifestyle.com/post/142136416322/the-15-most-iconicallybeautiful-zaha-hadid
http://www.archdaily.com/161116/london-aquatics-centre-for-2012summer-olympics-zaha-hadid-architects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaha_Hadid#cite_note-71
http://www.archdaily.com/444766/zaha-hadid-designs-superyacht-forblohm-voss
http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/zaha-hadid-designs-superyachtfor-blohm-voss#37483
http://saharghazale.com/2010/10/01/product-design-by-zaha-hadid/
http://www.zaha-hadid.com/design/unique-circle-yachts/
http://www.architectmagazine.com/design/zaha-hadid-friend_o
https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/212935888608015590/
http://archpaper.com/2013/01/photo-of-the-day-hanging-out-with-zahaand-rem-in-the-70s/
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/architects/zaha-hadid
http://www.archdaily.com/784729/zaha-hadid-dies-aged-65
http://www.zaha-hadid.com/awards/
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Vitra_Fire_Station#Introducti
on
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Main_Page
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/24/architecture/roca-architects-beforeafter/
http://qz.com/652209/the-devastating-loss-of-zaha-hadid-for-women-inarchitecture/
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/z/zaha_hadid.html

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http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Fl-Ka/HadidZaha.html
http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2004/bio
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Zaha-Hadid
http://www.dezeen.com/2016/04/01/zaha-hadid-best-buildingsarchitecture-hufton-crow-favourite-photographs/
http://www.zaha-hadid.com/
http://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/31/zaha-hadid-life-in-architectureprojects/
http://www.arcspace.com/features/zaha-hadid-architects/
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673188/the-a-to-zaha-list-7-of-hadidsbest-buildings/7

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