Pritzker prize winning Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid – arguably the most well-known female architect in the world – died on Thursday of a heart attack. She was 65.
Hadid was born in Baghdad in 1950, and grew up in the city. She moved abroad for college, and then launched her architectural career in London. Hadid’s structures – with their distinctive curves and bulges – are visible across the globe, from Baghdad to Guanzhou to Innsbruck.
By 1979, she had established her own practice in London called ‘Zaha Hadid Architects’. Her reputation was reinforced across the world with ground-breaking work including ‘The Peak’ in Hong Kong (1983), the ‘Kurfürstendamm’ in Berlin (1986) and the ‘Cardiff Bay Opera House’ in Wales (1994). Hadid was the first ever female architect to win the coveted Pritzker prize. She was also the first woman to be awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ gold medal in 2016. In addition, she also won the RIBA Stirling prize, among others.
Here’s a look at some of her most iconic structures: