Zaha Hadid Biography

Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.

Vitra fire station, Weil am Rhein, Germany

After graduating she worked with her former teachers, Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, becoming a partner in 1977. During the 1980s she also taught at the Architectural Association. A winner of many international competitions, theoretically influential and groundbreaking, a number of Hadid's winning designs were initially never built: notably, The Peak Club in Hong Kong (1983) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales (1994). In 2002 Hadid won the international design competition to design Singapore's one-north masterplan. In 2005, her design won the competition for the new city casino of Basel, Switzerland. In 2004 Hadid became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, architecture's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Previously, she had been awarded a CBE for services to architecture. She is a member of the editorial board of the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 2006, Hadid was honored with a retrospective spanning her entire work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In that year she also received an Honorary Degree from the American University of Beirut.

BMW Central Building, Leipzig, Germany

Zaha Hadid's architectural design firm - Zaha Hadid Architects - is over 350 people strong, headquartered in a Victorian former school building in Clerkenwell, London.

In 2008, she ranked 69th on the Forbes list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women". On 2 January 2009, she was the guest editor of the BBC's flagship morning radio news programme, Today.

In 2010 she was named by Time magazine as influential thinker in the 2010 TIME 100 issue.  In September 2010, The British magazine New Statesman listed Zaha Hadid at number 42 in their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".

Maxxi, Rome

She won the 2010 Stirling Prize for one of her most celebrated work, the Maxxi in Rome.

Hadid is the designer of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park in Seoul, South Korea, which is expected to be the centerpiece of the festivities for the city's designation as World Design Capital 2010. In 2009, she worked with the clothing brand Lacoste, to create a new, high fashion, and advanced boot. In the same year, she also collaborated with the brassware manufacturer Triflow Concepts to produce two new designs in her signature parametric architectural style. Her unique contributions to brassware design and other fields continue to push the boundaries of innovation.

In 2007, Zaha Hadid designed the Moon System Sofa for leading Italian furniture manufacturer B&B Italia.

Completed projects of Zaha Hadid

• Vitra Fire Station (1994), Weil am Rhein, Germany
• Hoenheim-North Terminus & Car Park (2001), Hoenheim, France. Project architect: Stephane Hof
• Bergisel Ski Jump (2002), Innsbruck, Austria
• Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003), Cincinnati, Ohio
• BMW Central Building (2005), Leipzig, Germany
• Ordrupgaard annexe (2005), Copenhagen, Denmark
• Phaeno Science Center (2005), Wolfsburg, Germany
• Maggie's Centres at the Victoria Hospital (2006), Kirkcaldy, Scotland
• Tondonia Winery Pavilion (2001–2006), Haro, Spain
• Eleftheria square redesign (2007), Nicosia, Cyprus
• Hungerburgbahn new stations (2007), Innsbruck, Austria
• Chanel Mobile Art Pavilion (Worldwide) Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris, Moscow, (2006–2008)
• Bridge Pavilion (2008), Zaragoza, Spain
• J. S. Bach Pavilion, Manchester International Festival (2009), Manchester, UK
• CMA CGM Tower (2007–2010), Marseille, France
• Pierres vives (2002–2012), Montpellier, France. Project architect: Stephane Hof
• MAXXI - National Museum of the 21st Century Arts (1998–2010), Rome, Italy. Stirling Prize 2010 winner.
• Guangzhou Opera House (2010), Guangzhou, People's Republic of China