Dame Zaha Hadid was known globally for her dynamic public buildings. She was the first female architect to receive the Pritzker Prize, in 2004, and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, in 2016. Her singular career was abruptly cut short when she passed away suddenly on 31 March 2016 in Miami, aged just 65.
Yet her legacy lives on. So powerful was her impact on the world that she is still, nearly a decade after her death, hugely influential, often cited in discussions, publications and events across the field, affectionately often by her first name only, 'Zaha'; and always alongside the greatest of the 20th and early 21st century, such as Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Her radical design work includes furniture, products and art (indeed, her famous deconstructivist paintings and drawings helped propel her career to stardom, way before her first built project was ever realised).
