A Lasting Impression: Zaha Hadid

Source: vogue.com.au

A Lasting Impression: Zaha Hadid

by SweisKloss
August 6, 2020

Perhaps the recent wave of women empowerment posts on social media, making news headlines, made me pause to reflect on all the strong women in my life. My mother, of course, comes top of mind as well as other women in my family. I have female friends and colleagues who are wonderful at what they do—moms, artists, professionals, business owners. But when I think about architects who made a lasting impression on me, I would put Zaha Hadid high up on that list. Zaha Hadid gained international recognition as an Iraqi-born British architect who explored the world of architecture through an innovative—and sometimes radical—lens to create masterworks of built structures. She was known as the “Queen of the Curve” because her designs had such swooping fluidity that seemed to defy gravity. Her structures imbued a femininity that is both powerful yet inviting. Her most notable designs, to name a few, are intriguing such as the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion, the London Aquatics Center, the Guangzhou Opera House, and the award-winning Heydar Aliyev Centre. She even designed one private residence outside of Moscow, the Capital Hill Residence, which was a $140 million dollar project. Half of the home is submerged underground. Aside from being a visionary, what resonates most with me about Hadid is that she was a strong woman in the world of architecture mostly driven by men at the time she started her career. She was undaunted by the boundaries of stereotypes and discrimination prevalent in both her professional and personal life. Over time she earned the utmost respect from colleagues. In 2004 Zaha Hadid was the first woman to be awarded the highly regarded Pritzker Prize, which is often called the Nobel Prize of architecture. She received the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. And right before her untimely passing in 2016, she became the first woman to win the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Gold Medal—a distinguished lifetime achievement award in architecture. Upon receiving the RIBA award, Hadid said in a statement: “We now see more established female architects all the time. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes the challenges are immense. There has been tremendous change over recent years and we will continue this progress.”