Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad (Iraq) in 1950. After receiving a master in mathematics at the American University of Beirut (1971), she started studying at the Architectural Association in London, where she graduated in 1977. A member of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis, she taught at the Architectural Association and continued her academic activities in a number of universities in England and in the United States.
She began her professional career in 1979 with a project for an apartment in 59 Eaton Place, London, which received the top Architectural Design award in 1982. But she achieved celebrity in 1983, when she won the competition for the Peak Club in Hong Kong.
This was followed by many other winning projects: in the competition for the KurfŸrstendamm 70, Berlin (1986), for the Kunst Media Centre in DŸsseldorf (1989-1993), for the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1996), for the Thames Water/Royal Academy Habitable Bridge in London (1996), for the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (1998), and for the Centro Nazionale per le Arti Contemporanee in Rome (1998).
Important completed works include: "The Great Utopia" exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1992), the Vitra Fire Station (1991-1993) and the Landesgartenschau (LF One) pavilion in Weil am Rhein (1997-1999), a block of council housing for the IBA complex in Berlin (1993), and the Mind Zone in the Millennium Dome in London (1998-2000).
She has also done important work in the field of design, fashion, and art, including the stage sets for the Charleroi Danses company and concert settings. Ever since the Architectural Association exhibition in 1983, her work has been published and exhibited on numerous occasions and has often been at the centre of international debate.
Zaha Hadid lives and works in London.