Â鶹APP

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Architect Zaha Hadid

Architect Zaha Hadid was born on October 31, 1950, in Baghdad, Iraq, and died on March 31, 2016, in Miami, Florida, U.S. She was an Iraq-British architect, artist, and designer. She was famously known as a major figure in architecture of the late-20^th and early-21^st centuries.

Before she enrolled in architecture she first studied mathematics as an undergraduate and joined the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1972.

Hadid has accomplished several works. Some of her major works include the Broad Art Museum, the Guangzhou Opera House, Rome’s MAXXI Museum, the Guangzhou Opera House, and London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics among others

1. She Taught Architecture in Several Schools

Image by from

Zaha was a learned architect and had a passion for the architectural field. After she had opened her architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, she started her career in teaching architecture and taught in several institutions,

She first started her teaching career at the Architectural Association. Later she taught at the Havard Graduate School of Design for years, then at Cambridge University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University, and the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg.

2. She Gave the World a New Perspective on how Buildings can be Shaped and Built

, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons

After Zaha established her own architectural firm in 1980, her styles introduced people to a new modern architecture style through her extremely detailed and professional sketches.

During that time people focused on postmodernist designs. Her designs were unique and different from other architects and that set her apart from other designers.

3. Designed Several Major Buildings

, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect Zaha Hadid designed many major buildings throughout her architectural journey. Her first major built project was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein, Germany in 1993. The building was composed of a series of sharply angled planes, the structure resembles a bird in flight.

Other major projects include a housing project for IBA Housing (1993) in Berlin, the Land Formation One exhibition space (1999) in Weil am Rhein, and the Mind Zone exhibition space (1999) at the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, London.

Read also 10 Things to Know about Architect Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.

4. Zaha Hadid was the First Female Architect to Receive the Pritzker Architecture Award

One of the remarkable facts about Architect Zaha Hadid is that she was the first-ever female architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize award in 2004. On May 31, 2017, Google celebrated Hadid’s achievements with a Doodle to commemorate the date on which Hadid became the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.

 It is an architecture award presented annually to honor a living architect or architect’s work that demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment. It was founded by Jay A. Pritzker and his wife Cindy in 1979.

5. She has Won Several Award

Throughout architect Zaha Hadid’s architectural journey she was awarded several awards and honors due to the amazing work she did in the architectural field. Some of the awards she has received include:

Gold Medal Architectural Design, British Architecture for 59 Eaton Place, London in 1982, Austrian State Prize for Architecture for Bergiselschanze 2002,  European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture for the Strasbourg tramway terminus and car park in Hoenheim, France in 2003, Commander of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to architecture in 2003, German Architecture Prize for the central building of the BMW plant in Leipzig in 2005, and Jury member for the awarding of the Pritzker Prize to Wang Shu in Los Angeles in 2012 among others.

6. Zaha was the First Woman to be Individually Awarded the Royal Gold Medal

Zaha was not the first architect woman to receive Royal Gold Medal since Ray Eames and Sheila O’Donnell had been awarded it jointly with Charles Eames and John Tuomey respectively.

However, she was the first ever woman to receive the award individually. She was awarded in February 2016 a month before her death.

Find the Top 10 Things to Know About Architect Adrian Smith.

7. Non-Architectural works

Despite Hadid being an architect, he did other non-architectural works before he died such as Centro nazionale per le arti contemporanee, Rome in 2002, Deconstructivist Architecture show at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1988), Museum für angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts) in Vienna (2003), Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (1995), Zaha Hadid: World Architecture at the Danish Architecture Centre (2013) and Zaha Hadid at the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2015 among others.

8. She was Born into a Wealthy Family

Zaha was born in Baghdad, Iraq, to an upper-class Iraqi family. Her father was a wealthy industrialist from Mosul. Muhammad al-Hajj Husayn Hadid Zaha’s father was a co-founder of the left-liberal al-Ahali group in 1932 and the National Democratic Party in Iraq.

He has well served as minister of finance after the overthrow of the monarch after the 1958 Iraqi coup d’état for the government of General Abd al-Karim Qasim. Zaha’s mother, Wajiha al-Sabunji was a famous artist from Mosul.

9. Hadid worked for her Former Professors after Graduation

Image by from

Zaha Hadid was a student at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She joined in the year 1972 and in 1977, she graduated from architectural school. After her graduation, she worked for her former professors, the Zenghelis and Koolhaas.

She worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, an international architectural firm with offices in different parts of the world such as New York, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Australia, and Doha.

She met the architectural engineer Peter Rice, through her association with Koolhaas. Peter was of so much help to Zaha, he gave her support and encouragement during the early stages of her career.

Read also 10 Famous Chicago Architects.

10. She Opened her Own Architectural Firm

In 1980, Zaha opened her own architectural firm known as Zaha Hadid Architects, in London. It is a private company of architecture, industrial design, and Urbanism. The firm has created job opportunities and it has 708 employees working for the firm.

Through this firm, Zaha completed several major projects such as Vitra Fire Station (1994), Weil am Rhein, Germany, Bergisel Ski Jump (2002), Innsbruck, Austria, BMW Central Building (2005), Leipzig, Germany, Ordrupgaard annexe (2005), Copenhagen, Denmark, Hungerburgbahn new stations (2007), Innsbruck, Austria and Bridge Pavilion (2008), Zaragoza, Spain among others.