Many architects are called on to create new projects that stand as symbols of social progress—but none delivered as regularly, as unexpectedly and as spectacularly as Zaha Hadid. Her successes were so consistent, she received the highest honours from civic, academic and professional institutions across the globe. Her practice remains one of the world’s most inventive architectural studios—and has been for almost 40 years.
Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Zaha Hadid studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut before moving to London in 1972 to attend the Architectural Association (AA) School where she received the Diploma Prize in 1977.