Biography
Hadid spent her childhood and teenage years in European boarding schools. She began studying at the American University in Beirut. In 1972 she continued her architecture studies at the renowned Architectural Association in London. Hadid completed her studies in 1977. She then held numerous international teaching positions and visiting professorships and led master classes. Among other things, she was a visiting professor at Harvard and Columbia University. Even before she opened her own office, she attracted attention with her extraordinary design sketches. She became a member of the "Office Metropolitan Architecture". The Iraqi master of architecture received a wide range of inspiration from the works of Russian constructivism, such as Kazimir Malevich or El Lissitzki. Hadid impressed with her forward-looking visions. Hadid also wanted to shape people's future with her designs. Her construction sketches feature dynamic shapes and conformist 90-degree angles.
Her designs are often confused with the deconstructionists, of which the architect did not consider herself one. Her personal concern was the implementation of theory into construction practice. With her ideas about avant-garde architecture, Hadid signaled the dissolution of space and at the same time a new definition of its realized form. This gives the person affected a new, unprecedented spatial experience. Despite all the novelty and future promise, the architectural artist attached great importance to functionality, which is expressed in flexible, flowing spatial divisions. They make the rooms suitable for both old and new usage concepts. In 1983, Hadid first earned international credit for the project "The Peak", a suspended amusement and recreation park on a hill in Hong Kong. She was also able to win the competition. Her most extraordinary recent projects include the contemporary art centers in Rome and Cincinnati, the "Mind Zone" in the Millennium Dome in London and the Science Center in Wolfsburg.
Hadid's other works include the Art and Media Center in Düsseldorf (1989), the exhibition pavilion for Video Art in Groningen (1990) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1994). In 1982 she was awarded the Architectural Design Gold Medal for the design of the London apartment in Eaton Place. In addition, Hadid designed furniture and interior design for her own projects. In 1992 she realized an installation for the Great Utopia exhibition in New York's Guggenheim Museum as well as other theater sets and theater costumes. She designed a revolving stage for the pop group "Petshop Boys". The all-rounder created architectural drawings as artistic works that are as valuable as a house. In her early phase she devoted herself to painting and drawing. Hadid's works have already been shown in exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1978), in the GA Gallery in Tokyo (1985), in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1988), in The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and in Waiting Room at Grand Central Station in New York (1995).
Her works enrich the holdings of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, among others. In 1999, Hadid caused a sensation at the State Garden Show in Weil am Rhein. For this event she designed a 140 meter long pavilion made of concrete, wood and glass. The building stands in an artificial landscape on the site of a former gravel pit. The architect has already built another building in the Baden town: a fire station for the Vitra factory in Weil am Rhein (1993). In January 2000, the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid received first prize and the construction contract for the "Science Center" in Wolfsburg. In 2003 she designed the Bergiselschanze near Innsbruck. In 2004 she received the Pritzker Prize. This was the first time that the world's most important architectural award went to a woman. She was awarded the German Architecture Prize for the central building of the BMW factory in Leipzig. In 2009 she received the Praemium Imperiale; In 2010, Hadid was awarded the Stirling Prize. In 2015 and 2016, Hadid was honored with the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Royal Gold Medal. Most recently she lived and worked in London.
Zaha Hadid died of a heart attack on March 31, 2016 in Miami, USA.
