Zaha Hadid of Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid, born in Iraq, was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work. Each of her dynamic and innovative projects builds on over thirty years of revolutionary experimentation and research in the interrelated fields of urbanism, architecture and design. The new London Aquatics Centre demonstrates Hadid’s quest for fluid, dynamic space. Previous seminal buildings, such as the MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome and Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg have also been hailed as architecture that transforms our vision of the future with new spatial concepts and bold, visionary forms.

Hadid’s outstanding contribution to the architectural profession continues to be acknowledged by the most world’s most respected institutions. She received the prestigious ‘Praemium Imperiale’ from the Japan Art Association in 2009 and the Stirling Prize, one of architecture’s highest accolades, in both 2010 and 2011 from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Other recent awards include UNESCO naming Hadid as an ‘Artist for Peace’, the Republic of France honouring Hadid with the ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in recognition of her services to architecture, and TIME magazine included her in their 2010 list of the ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’.

Zaha has graciously offered to be the honorary patron and spokesperson for the Iraqi Women’s Fellowship Foundation.