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Updates on Zaha Hadid's passing and our December interview with her

Updates on Zaha Hadid's passing and our December interview with her

UPDATE: Please read Sir Peter Cook’s obituary of Zaha Hadid here.

As the Architect’s Newspaper (AN) reported earlier today, Zaha Hadid has passed away at age 65. According the Guardian, she was struck with fatal heart attack in a Miami hospital where she was being treated for bronchitis. In 2004, Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE, became the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

She was awarded the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011 as well as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) gold medal in 2016. The Iraqi-born architect studied at London’s Architectural Association (AA) from 1972-1977 and afterwards became a partner at OMA. In 1979 she established her eponymous London-based firm that would go on to produce a wide range of projects, including skyscrapers, art galleries, furniture, sets, and shoes, just to name a few.

In a release forwarded to AN, Tom Pritzker, Chairman of the Hyatt Foundation which sponsors the Pritzker Architecture Prize, wrote “Zaha represented the highest aspirations of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She combined her vision and intellect with a force of personality that left no room for complacency. She made a real difference.” Lord Peter Palumbo, the Chair of the Jury of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, said “The world of culture has lost a standard-bearer for the art of architecture. Zaha Hadid fought prejudice all her life with great success. And this, in addition to her genius as an architect, will secure her legacy for all time.”

This past December 2015, AN’s managing editor Olivia Martin had the chance to speak with Hadid at the Chicago Architecture Biennial. AN invites you to revisit that interview here. Speaking of her own architectural style, she said “It evolved over time and is always evolving. It looks similar, but it constantly changes… maybe not radically, but continuously.” Recent project from her firm included this hotel in Rio de Janeiro, her first project in South America, and these residences near New York City’s High Line. AN will continue to cover her passing with a full obituary in the near future.

 

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