Portrait: Mary McCartney
There was an outpouring of shock and sadness yesterday afternoon as news broke that Dame Zaha Hadid, a unique talent in architecture and inspiration to many in the industry, had died suddenly at the age of 65.
Hadid had been in hospital in Miami, Florida suffering from bronchitis, where she died of a heart attack in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Her death came just two months after she was awarded the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal for her liftetime achievements in architecture, the first woman to have been awarded the medal in her own right. She was also the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Prize for architecture, in 2004.
According to a statement posted on the website of her practice, a memorial service will be announced shortly.
The news brought a flood of tributes. RIBA president Jane Duncan said: “Zaha Hadid was an inspirational woman, and the kind of architect one can only dream of being. Visionary and highly experimental, her legacy despite her young age is formindable. She leaves behind a body of work, from buildings to furniture, footwear and cars, that delight and astound people all over the world. The world of architecture has lost a star today.”
Lord Rogers, speaking to The Guardian, said: “She was a great architect, a wonderful woman and a wonderful person. Among architects emergin in the last few decades, no one ever had more impact than she did.”
Many leading figures in architecture and construction also offered their tributes on Twitter.
Devastated by the loss of a great architect & colleague today. Her spirit will live on in her work and studio. Our hearts go out. #zahahadid
— Studio Libeskind (@DanielLibeskind) March 31, 2016
The Earth’s canvas has lost a talented artist today. Thank you for sharing your gift, Zaha Hadid. https://t.co/zLL7oO1XW5
— AECOM (@AECOM) March 31, 2016
RIP #ZahaHadid @ZHA_News @ZAHAArchitect an #architecture giant who practiced art of the impossible @ArchRecord @RIBA pic.twitter.com/NDZ0zOSNKZ
— George Ferguson (@GeorgeFergusonx) March 31, 2016
After training at London’s Architecture Association, Hadid set up her own practice in 1979. Her career started with “paper” projects in the late 1980s that nevertheless proved inspirational for generations of architecture students, including the Peak in Hong Kong (1983), and the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin (1986)
The project that was due to launch her career, the competition-winning design for the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1994) was ultimately left on the drawing board, but she stuck to her uncompromising style until the world moved on.
In the years after 2000, her reputation was finally matched by commissions: the MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome (2009), the London Aquatics Centre (2011), the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku (2013), the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2003) and the Guangzhou Opera House in China (2010). More recently, she completed the ‘Softbridge’ project for St Anthony’s College, Oxford
She was the architect of two Stirling Prize-winning buildings – the MAXXI in Rome won in 2010, and the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, south London, in 2011.
Hadid’s projects were always highly technically challenging for the contractors and consultants her firm worked with, and often controversial. Some buildings, such as the Vitra Fire Station (1993), have been criticised for their impracticalities, but all have broken the mould.
Hadid designed the Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics (Picture: Hufton+Crow)
The MAXXI in Rome won the Stirling Prize in 2010 (Photograph: Iwan Baan)
