Zaha Hadid is 71: legendary architect from London, UK designer practice, ZHA England, Wangjing Soho Complex Beijing
Zaha Hadid Is 71: What to Know About the Legendary Architect
3 November 2021
Every niche has its own icons, and when we are talking about the movie industry, we think about Charlie Chaplin. In the betting sphere with the best bets and high odds from 22Bet, it’s Sonny Reisner, and in architecture, it’s Zaha Hadid.
On October 31, the legendary Iraqi-British architect and designer Zaha Hadid would have turned 71. She is the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for architecture. Hadid was also awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, the Royal RIBA Medal and has many other honors.
Family, University and Malevich’s Tectonics
Zaha Hadid was born into a wealthy family in Baghdad. Her mother Wajiha al-Sabunji was an artist, and her father Muhammad al-Hajj Hussein Hadid was one of the co-founders of the National Democratic Party of Iraq. Hadid was educated at a French convent school in Baghdad, then in the mathematics department at the American Institute in Beirut. She later enrolled at the School of the Architectural Association in London, where she completed the course of masters Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zengelis. Hadid’s graduate work was a plan for a hotel bridge over the Thames, “Malevich’s Tectonics.”
After graduating from architecture school, Zaha joined the design bureau Office for Metropolitan Architecture of her teacher, the legendary Dutchman Rem Koolhaas. After leaving the OMA in 1980, Hadid founded her own firm, Zaha Hadid Architects. The first building based on her project was erected in 1993, it was a fire station for the furniture company Vitra, which reminded one of the works of the Soviet avant-garde artists of the 1920s with its flying canopy-wing.
Hadid’s world fame came after the construction of the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in the USA. Hadid was never married and had no children. According to Zaha herself, her family were projects of buildings and employees of the architectural bureau. The architect lived in central London, not far from the office. Her apartment was a white space filled with avant-garde furniture.
Russian Avant-garde and “Oyster” Forms
Zaha Hadid’s work was shaped by the influence of the Russian avant-garde. The architect’s favorite artist was Kazimir Malevich. Hadid worked in the style of deconstructivism, whose main feature is the visual violation of the laws of architectonics. All the buildings seem soft, unstable, falling or sprawling in different directions. They are known for their futuristic look and “oyster” forms, thanks to which the faces seem to flow into each other. Each structure is calculated using special algorithms made possible by computer modeling.
One of the architect’s recognizable works is the Sky SOHO multifunctional shopping and office complex in Shanghai. It consists of four streamlined towers which are connected by four green bridges.
Zaha Hadid also built the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku. It includes a spacious museum, exhibition halls and minimalist offices. The undulating building has virtually no straight lines.
Another famous project is the futuristic Opera House building in Guangzhou. It has one of the best halls in the world in terms of acoustics. In addition, it has innovative systems for changing scenery and transforming the stage.
Capital Hill Residence in Barvikha is the world’s only private residential project designed by Hadid. The unusual mansion is owned by Russian developer Vladislav Doronin. The house is shaped like an alien spaceship.
One of the architect’s latest works is the Dominion Tower business center on Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street in Moscow. The building looks like a displaced tectonic plate. The façade is clearly divided into horizontal bays, and each floor is displaced relative to the previous one.
The 520 W 28th apartment complex, which has no corners, is Zaha Hadid’s first building in New York. The architect also created it in the last years of her life. The apartments in this 11-story apartment complex are among the most expensive in the city.
Melting Tables and Skyscraper Vases
Zaha Hadid’s architectural company created not only buildings, but also furnishings and decorations. Many of them were inspired by Hadid’s buildings and resembled their forms.
Among the designer’s most striking works is the Liquid Glacial collection of furniture, including tables and chairs that resemble a melting glacier, streamlined Citco marble furniture, Scoop sofas and chairs made of fiberglass with gold plating, stylish Visio vases that repeat the shape of skyscrapers, as well as Aria and Avia lamps, and Slamp. The streamlined, weightless forms of polymer sheets create a sense of constant movement.
Zaha Hadid also created jewelry based on her own architectural designs. She is best known for her jewelry line for the Danish brand Georg Jensen. One of Zaha’s most recognizable rings in this collection is inspired by the Wangjing Soho complex in Beijing.
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Zaha Hadid Designs
Zaha Hadid designs Superyacht for Blohm+Voss
render © Zaha Hadid Architects
Zaha Hadid Superyacht
Oneiric Catamaran
Design: Zaha Hadid Architects
Oneiric catamaran
Oneiric Catamaran, Zaha Hadid Superyacht
Zaha Hadid Design Women’s Activewear Collection 2019 for Odlo
photo courtesy of ZHD
Zaha Hadid Design Women’s Activewear Collection
Zaha Hadid Design at Maison&Objet 2019
Swirl Bowl by ZHD:
photo courtesy of ZHD
Zaha Hadid Design at Maison&Objet 2019
Zaha Hadid Design at Harrods, UK
Zaha Hadid Design at Harrods, Knightsbridge
LACOSTE footwear by Zaha Hadid
Genesy lamp for Artemide
Zaha Hadid Fluidity & Design Exhibition, Bahrain
Sonnabend Gallery, New York
Milan Furniture Fair byZaha Hadid, Italy
Dune Formations, Venice Art Biennale
Art Basel, Switzerland
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