The Iraqi-born architect, who was made a Dame of the Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, was the first woman in the world to receive the Oscar of architecture, the prominent Pritzker Prize. Her buildings are easily recognizable, as if they were made for the set of a sci-fi movie set in space. We will soon be able to experience the experience up close, as the Zugló City Centre project will completely transform the Bosnyák tér area of Budapest by 2029, as envisioned by Zaha Hadid.
The designer was born in 1950 to a wealthy family in Baghdad. Her father was a wealthy industrialist who also pursued political laurels: he played a role in the founding of several widely supported parties, and he also participated in the work of the republican government that emerged after the fall of the monarchy as Minister of Finance. Hadid's mother was an artist, whose interests stuck with both of her children, but little Zaha was also fascinated by the Sumerian ruins she saw during family trips - she said in an interview that this was when she decided to become an architect. Her parents sent her to English and Swiss boarding schools, and she continued her higher education in Beirut and London.
Here, at the School of the Architectural Association, she met Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, among others, who immediately offered the talented student, who graduated in 1977, a job in their Rotterdam architecture firm. Even during her university years, they noticed that Hadid was not at all interested in details, she only saw the big picture, she was not interested, for example, in whether it was possible to go up a flight of stairs without hitting her head on the ceiling. In the postmodern era, she seemed interesting as an artist working in a completely different style, although for the time being only in the field of models and blueprints.
His almost painterly architectural designs made him increasingly well-known, and he taught at ten universities during his life (including Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Cambridge), but his ideas simply refused to take on three dimensions, and he did not win any competitions. He was greatly disappointed by the design competition for the Cardiff Opera House, where although the judging panel considered his work the best, the Welsh government overestimated the costs and ultimately voted for a cheaper design. He finally broke the glass ceiling in 1988, when his work was selected for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“I don’t make pretty little buildings.”
Her style is difficult to define, perhaps best described as neo-futuristic, but she has also been called abstract or deconstructivist. She never said anything about it herself, the combination of geometry and almost fluid forms came instinctively. Until her untimely death in 2016, she was awarded numerous awards for her work, and towards the end of her life she was a constant presence on lists, for example, Forbes ranked her 69th on its list of the 100 most influential women in the world.
In 2010, Time selected him as one of the world's 100 most important thinkers. The list could go on for a long time, and the same can be said for his buildings, interiors and design work. He designed a bag for Louis Vuitton, luxury store interiors, but we can also thank him for one of the world's most unique private homes in a suburb of Moscow. The spaceship-shaped luxury property was commissioned by the owner of the Aman hotel chain, Naomi Campbell's ex. However, this was a rarity, the designer rarely took on private commissions, instead preferring to take on important public tenders. He also worked for the Middle East, his homeland: he is credited with the Sheikh Zayed Bridge and the city's opera house in Dubai, as well as one of the football stadiums in Doha, which served as the venue for the 2022 World Cup.
Zaha Hadid near and far
Thanks to the unique silhouettes, a Zaha Hadid building arouses curiosity even if you are not otherwise interested in the subject. We have already mentioned the Zugló district development, but let us note that the design office also entered the design competition for the Museum of Ethnography – but they did not win.
Where else can we see his buildings nearby? In Madrid, we can stay at the Puerta America hotel, whose interiors (and therefore rooms) he designed, the MAXXI museum building in Rome, which showcases 21st-century art, is also worth a mention, but it's also worth having a coffee in the restaurant of London's Serpentine Gallery, and among the most spectacular future works of Zaha Hadid Architects, we will also find a Sardinian museum, the Iraqi parliament, or the Chengdu urban arts center.
