Zaha Hadid (Baghdad, Iraq, October 31, 1950 – March 31, 2016). After obtaining a master’s degree in mathematics at the American University of Beirut (1971) she began her architecture studies at the Architectural Association of London where she graduates in 1977.
She became a member of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, she is a teacher for the Architectural Association and continues her academic work in several universities in Great Britain and the United States.
She also works in design, fashion, art and scenography, preparing installations for the company Charleroi/Danses. Her neo-modernist architecture is inspired by the Russian avant-guard movement of the twentieth century, especially Constructivism and Suprematism. Her graduation project of a hotel to be built in London was called Malevich’s Tektonik. At the end of the twenties, the suprematist Kazimir Malevič stated in his theoretical writings that one has a complete perception of space only when an environment is seen from above. Zaha Hadid adopts such a concept through complex architectural projects with aerodynamic lines that seem ready to take off. In 1979, she began her professional activity with a project of interior design in London, for which in 1982 she obtained the highest award of Architectural Design. The following year she achieved great fame by winning the competition for the Peak Leisure Club in Hong Kong.
Many other successful projects followed: the competition for the Kurfürstendamm 70 of Berlin (1986); for the Kunst Media Centre of Düsseldorf (1989-1993); for the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1996); for the Thames Water/Royal Academy Habitable Bridge of London (1996); for the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art of Cincinnati (1998); for the MAXXI, the National Center for Contemporary Arts in Rome (1998).
Among the most important projects to be mentioned: The Great Utopia, Guggenheim Museum (1992), New York, USA; the Fire Station for the Vitra Museum (1993), Weil am Rhein, Germany; LFONE/Landesgartenschau (1999), Weil am Rhein, Germany; Mind Zone, Millenium Dome (1999), London, United Kingdom; Summer Pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery (2000), London. United Kingdom; Pavilion R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia (2001), Barcelona, Spain; intermodal Terminal Hoenheim-North (2001), Strasbourg, France; the Mount Bergisel ski-jump (2002), Innsbruck, Austria; Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003), Cincinnati, USA; Snow and Ice Installation, Snow Show (2004), Lapland; BMW Headquarters (2005), Leipzig, Germany; Phaeno, Science Museum (2005), Wolfsburg, Germany; Hotel Puerta America (2005), Madrid, Spain; BMW Showroom (2006), Leipzig, Germany; Maggie’s Cancer Care Center, Kirkcaldy (2006), Scotland, United Kingdom; Hungerburgbahn Funicular (2007), Innsbruck, Austria; CMA CGM Shipping Company offices (2007),Marseille, France; Bridge -Pavilion Expo 2008 (2008), Zaragoza, Spain; Burnham Pavilion (2009), Chicago, United States; Riverside Museum of Transport (2004–2010), Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. Starting from the exhibition of the Architectural Association, in 1983, her works have been published and exhibited on several occasions and many times have been discussed in international debates. Zaha Hadid lives and works in London.
Zaha Hadid projects on arcVision
Zaha Hadid projects on arcVision.org
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