Zaha Hadid
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1950, Hadid studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving to London in 1972 to attend the Architectural Association (AA) School, where she was awarded the Diploma Prize in 1977. Hadid founded Zaha Hadid Architects in 1979 and completed her first building, the Vitra Fire Station in Germany, in 1993.
Hadid taught at the AA School until 1987 and held numerous lectures and professorships at universities around the world, including Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Hadid’s exceptional contribution to architecture has been recognized by some of the world’s most respected institutions, including the Forbes list of “The World’s Most Powerful Women,” and the Japan Art Association, which awarded her the Praemium Imperiale. In 2010 and 2011, Hadid’s projects were awarded the Stirling Prize—one of architecture’s highest honors—by the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Zaha Hadid passed away on March 31, 2016, and her legacy lives on in the DNA of the design studio she created.