Hadid, Zaha, 1950–, British architect, b. Baghdad, studied American Univ., Beirut (1968–71); Architectural Association School, London (grad. 1977). A partner in Rem Koolhaas Koolhaas, Rem, 1944–, Dutch architect, b. Rotterdam. He began his career as a journalist and screenwriter, moving to London in the late 1960s to study architecture.
..... Click the link for more information. 's Office for Metropolitan Architecture (1977–79), she established her own practice in 1979. A provocative theorist, Hadid has created innovative designs that stretch the boundaries of contemporary architecture with their spatial audacity, dynamic forms, horizontal elongations, and radical adaptations to landscape or urban setting. While Hadid won many awards and became extremely influential with young architects, few of her larger 20th-century projects, e.g., Peak Club, Hong Kong (1983), and Cardiff Bay Opera House, Wales (1995), were ever built, and most that were built were quite small, e.g., Monsoon Restaurant, Sapporo, Japan (1990), and Vitra Firehouse, Weil am Rhein, Germany (1993). She achieved international acclaim for her first American project (and the first major U.S. museum designed by a woman), Cincinnati's Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003). Her recent commissions include Germany's Phaeno Science Center, Wolfsburg, and BMW Central Building, Leipzig (both: 2005); Rome's National Center of Contemporary Arts; and others worldwide. Hadid was the first woman to win (2004) the prestigious Pritzker Prize Pritzker Prize (prĭt`skər)
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See A. Betsky, Zaha Hadid: The Complete Work (1998); P. Noever, ed., Zaha Hadid: Architecture (2003); G. F. Giusti, Zaha Hadid (2004); T. Sakamoto, Zaha Hadid: Works (CD-ROM, 2003).

Hadid, Zaha

(born Oct. 31, 1950, Baghdad, Iraq) Iraqi-born British architect. Hadid took a degree in mathematics at the American University of Beirut (1972) and trained at London's Architectural Association. There she met the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, with whom she worked until she established her own firm in 1979. Her building designs—inspired by modernist movements including Cubism, Futurism, Suprematism, and Constructivism—were characterized by a sense of fragmentation, instability, and movement. Best known of her built works are the Vitra Fire Station (1989–93) in Weil am Rhein, Ger., and the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (1997–2003) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The latter was the first American museum designed by a woman. In 2004 Hadid became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.