Zaha Hadid building. Biography and personal life of Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid is the grande dame of modern architecture. She did not immediately achieve recognition and a worthy place in this almost exclusively male profession, but she impressed with her soft lines, a new approach to organizing space... some special female perspective on futuristic architecture. It stands firmly on the ground and, despite all the fantastic solutions, it is distinguished by a thoughtful, practical approach.

For a football stadium in Qatar (construction is scheduled for 2022), where the concrete will only gain strength over time, she offers one solution, but for the Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow, where it still gets quite cold, she offers a completely different one. There, the broken lines of the facade, however, are adjusted to take into account the snow load.

The Dominion Tower business center in Moscow initially fits into the surrounding industrial “gray buildings”, carefully checking with the “bird” and existing structures, since for an architectural grande dame the main thing is important: that the architecture not only meets the requirements of customers and, sometimes, their unhealthy ambitions , but also made people’s lives a little better. And when it is possible, it will look like a fairy tale.

In our country, of course, it is more customary to indulge ambitions, forgetting about the people around us... But that’s why there are such truly outstanding personalities as Zaha Hadid.

Zaha Hadid (Arabic: زها حديد‎; English: Zaha Mohammad Hadid) is considered one of the most original, unusual and most successful modern architects in the world, called “the modern Gaudi.” She is considered a real genius, and her buildings and structures of the most unusual shapes are located in many countries around the world and still continue to be built according to the crazy plans of a talented creator.

Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid was born on October 31, 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq had formally been freed from British rule for twenty years, but the country was still heavily influenced by Western culture. World-famous architects came to Baghdad; museums and universities were built according to their designs. Zaha's father received a good European education at the London School of Economics, and upon returning home he became one of the founders of the People's Democratic Party, which advocated the modernization of Iraq. Being a successful entrepreneur, he was able to give his children everything they needed to raise free-thinking, extraordinary individuals in them. Thanks to his love and support, Zakha was able to realize herself, ascending to the top of the architectural Olympus and taking a place there that corresponded to her talent, hard work and determination.

Zaha Hadid never wore a burqa and, unlike the rest of the country's population, had the opportunity to travel freely around the world.

There are several versions of why Zaha decided to become an architect. Most likely, this decision matured in her gradually. In one of her many interviews, she told how her parents once took her with them on a walk to the ancient Sumerian ruins, and, impressed by what they had seen, she decided that she herself would build amazing, unlike anything else houses. In another interview, Zaha recalled how she saw photographs from an exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright's works in a magazine and asked her parents what the people who build houses were called. The parents replied that such people are called architects, and Zaha said that she wanted to become an architect. However, at such a young age she had not yet decided on her future profession and wanted to become a singer, fashion designer or even an astronaut. The final decision came to her at the age of 11 in London. Since then, her whole life has been subordinated to a passionate desire to embody her fantasies in concrete.

Having received her primary education at a French convent school in Baghdad, Zaha left Iraq in 1968 (her return to her homeland dragged on for more than forty years). She travels to Lebanon, where she studies mathematics at the American University of Beirut.

From 1972 to 1977 she studied at the Architectural Association in London. Having started her career in the OMA bureau of her teacher, the prominent Dutch architect and deconstructivist theorist Rem Koolhaas, in 1980 Zaha Hadid founded her own architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects.

He currently resides in Britain and is considered both an Arab and British architect. She holds the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The style of her works refers to deconstructivism. A native of Baghdad, Zaha Hadid has become the most famous woman in the architectural environment of Europe and the whole world.

She changed the idea of lines and the organization of space, and although success came to her quite late, Zaha managed to conquer her opponents and introduce new trends into architecture.

Aquatics Centre, London, UK (2005 - 2011)

Deconstructivism is a striking contrast to the polished and carefully planned constructivism. We can say that deconstructivism is surrealism in architecture. Often these are very complex shapes of objects with broken and irregular lines. Also, this style is characterized by an invasion of the urban area in the most aggressive way, that is, among ordinary residential buildings, a building made of glass rises, or among smooth skyscrapers, a low and crooked house suddenly appears, which looks like a lump of crumpled paper, and so on, and this is located in such unexpected In places, it seems that this was not the plan of the builders, but the building fell here accidentally and completely by accident.

Zaha Hadid has become one of the most prominent figures in modern architecture. She became Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012. In 2004, she became the first female architect in history to be awarded the Pritzker Prize, which is equal in value to the Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize. Zaha Hadid was awarded in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage building. The architect received both awards when she was already over 50. Her path to fame was long and difficult.

Having received her diploma, Zaha began working in the OMA bureau under the guidance of the same Rem Koolhaas, and three years later she founded her own firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, while continuing to teach at the Architectural Association. There are few orders. Clients are frightened by her unusual approach and capricious character, but Zaha never tires of repeating that architecture is not a service discipline, but a formative one. She stubbornly continues to forge her own path, no matter the cost. In 1983, her country club project won a competition in Hong Kong, but it remained unrealized. From this moment on, Zaha turns into a “paper architect” for many years. Her work is admired, she receives many awards, but she cannot build anything. The company deals with small orders, and they say about Zaha that her projects are, in principle, impossible to implement.

Since early, almost adolescence, Zaha Hadid has been constantly fantasizing and working on many projects: both commissioned and on personal initiative. Over the years, she offers options for building an inhabited bridge over the Thames (1966), an inverted skyscraper for the English city of Leicester (1994) and a club on a mountaintop in Hong Kong (1983). Designs the Opera House in Cardiff (1994), Contemporary Art Centers in Ohio (1988) and Rome (1999) ... These and other projects brought her victory in prestigious architectural competitions (the first was won in 1983 in Hong Kong), interest, and then popularity among professionals, but remain on paper. Largely due to the unwillingness of customers to accept its non-standard and original design.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The situation changed unexpectedly when the famous Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was built in 1997, based on a design by Frank Gehry. Having gained strength, deconstructivism came into fashion. Zaha was again paid attention to, and she received an order to build the Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, which itself turns into a work of art, and two years later, according to her project, the construction of a ski jump in Innsbruck begins.

Zaha proves in practice that her fantastic ideas can be made real. Gradually she becomes a sought-after architect. Her policy of creative self-expression, which prevails over the principles of ergonomics and functionality, but does not suppress them, is beginning to bear its first fruits.

She begins the construction of the Phaeno science center and the central building of the BMW plant (both in Germany), her projects win competitions and do not leave the pages of architectural magazines. Zaha continues to teach and lectures all over the world, always attracting full audiences.

According to Hadid herself, a surge of interest in her work began after the building of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was built (in 1997), designed by Frank Gehry. And after participating in the construction of the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, USA, which opened in 2003, Zaha Hadid’s ideas became truly in demand.

Fire department of the Vitra furniture company, Weil am Rhein, Germany (1990 - 1994)

The dark streak that lasted a whole decade ends in 1990, when Zaha receives an order to build a fire station for the designer furniture manufacturer Virta.

This unusual building, similar to a bomber, became an event in the architectural world and made people talk about Zacha as a master of the deconstructivism movement that emerged in the late 80s.

The station is an acute-angled concrete structure that seems to grow out of the ground. The entire structure symbolizes the dynamics with which firefighters have to work.

The fire station of the furniture company Vitra, reminiscent of the Stealth bomber (1993), becomes one of its first designs.

But the fire department and occasional work in collective projects are very little for a full-fledged career in architecture.

Soon Zaha wins the competition for the construction of the Opera House in Cardiff Bay (UK), but under pressure from a dissatisfied public, the customer cancels the results of the competition and appoints a new one, in which Zaha again wins, beating a total of 268 competitors.

Then the customer abandoned the project altogether, and the long-awaited triumph turned into a disaster for Zaha. Her career had reached a low point. There was practically no work, but Zakha did not give up. She decided to go all the way. Gradually, recognition comes to Zaha Hadid.

Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, USA (1997 - 2003)

In 1997, she was offered her first real commission - a project for the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art. This building in Cincinnati was built between 1997 and 2003. It was for the project of the Center for Contemporary Art that Ms. Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Prize, and became the first female architect in history to receive this high award.

The appearance of the building displays Ms. Hadid’s characteristic manner of “cutting” space, creating multi-tiered and acute-angled volumes. The facade of the first floor is completely glazed; thanks to this, the concrete floor turns into an extension of the sidewalk. The massive blocks of the upper floors, lined with concrete and metal, seem to be suspended in the air.

The architect has always tried to destroy generally accepted canons and “stretch” the boundaries of the usual space, giving it a powerful dynamic impulse. For the same purpose - to enhance internal movement and deformation - Zaha Hadid, completely rejecting generally accepted geometry, uses a distorted perspective that reveals sharp angles and curved lines.

In addition to purely architectural work with large forms, Zaha Hadid willingly experiments in the installation genre, and also creates theatrical scenery, exhibition and stage spaces, interiors, shoes, paintings and drawings. Here she hones new forms in conditions of complete compositional freedom or, on the contrary, in conditions of tough tasks. Her small works are in many museum collections, such as MoMA, the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main (DAM) and others. She also gives lectures and organizes master classes all over the world, each time attracting full audiences.

Zaha is the author of several experimental furniture collections. In 1990, she designed the interior of the Moonjun restaurant in Sapporo (Japan), and in 1992, the exhibition “The Great Utopia” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 1999, she was entrusted with the design of the Mind Zone under the Millennium Dome in London.

Her most famous works in the field of furniture design are the Chandelier Vortexx lamp and the Cristal chair, made for Sawaya & Moroni (Sawaya and MoroniB), as well as the design of furniture and silverware, made for the same company. In 2005, she was elected designer of the year at the first design exhibition Design Miami.


Lamp designed by Zaha Hadid for Sawaya & Moroni	Bag by Zaha Hadid for Louis Vuitton

Liquid table	Sofa by Zaha Hadid for B&B

Zaha Hadid creates installations, creates theatrical scenery, experimental furniture, shoe design, paints paintings, and designs interiors. In addition to the famous lamp of her design for Sawaya & Moroni, she designs shoes for Lacoste and the Brazilian company Melissa (2008), and carries out a project for an ideal home, presented at Imm Cologne 2007 (Cologne, Germany). In 1999-2000 She is the one who designed the design for the Pet Shop Boys world tour.

Design comes to the rescue in the absence of large significant projects. Only in 2001 did Zaha design the Hoenheim-North train station and car park in Strasbourg (France), and in 2002 the Bergisel ski jump in Innsbruck (Austria).

In May 2004, an event occurred that many were waiting for, but few believed in the possibility of. Zaha Hadid becomes the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious in the world of architecture. From that moment on, her life changes for the better. Critics no longer call her work crazy and unrealistic, realizing that her unique view will have a great influence on the development of architecture in the 21st century.

From now on, Zaha herself determines the rules of the game, and her amazing original buildings begin to gradually change the face of the world in which we live. Her style also changes. Zaha moves away from “classical” deconstructivism, more smooth lines and organic forms appear in her works. Zaha Hadid is emerging as one of the most influential architects of the new century.

BMW plant headquarters Leipzig, Germany (2001 - 2005)

In 2005, the central BMW building was recognized as the best building of the year in Germany according to the Federal Chamber of Architects. Zaha literally revolutionized ideas about organizing a workspace. In her proposed project, the conveyor belt with cars passing along it was located above the administration premises, and not vice versa, as had been the case until now.

That same year, Zaha was chosen as Designer of the Year at the inaugural Design Miami exhibition. Zaha developed an interest in design as a child. In one interview, she tells how her parents bought an asymmetrical mirror in the Art Nouveau style for her room. Zaha was so impressed that she immediately redecorated her entire room, and then the rooms of her cousin and aunt, remembering how she created an amazing interior for a restaurant in Sapporo in the late 80s.

Later, she enjoyed designing furniture and interiors, creating theater sets and stage spaces.

In 2005, she developed the design for the Hotel Puerto America, each of the twelve floors of which was designed by one architect. In addition to Zaha, Norman Foster, Ron Arod, Jacques Nouvel, Catherine Findlay and others participated in the project. The hotel has received many awards and has become one of the landmarks of Madrid.

In 2006, a solo exhibition was held at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of Zaha Hadid’s career. A significant part of the projects presented there no longer existed only on paper, but were actually being built all over the world.

Phaeno Natural Science Museum, Wolfsburg, Germany (2000 - 2005)

The Phaeno Museum of Natural Sciences in Wolfsburg was included in the list of the best architectural structures of 2006 and was awarded the Mies Van der Rohe and Stirling prizes. Zaha calls this project one of her favorites: “Phaeno is the most complete presentation of my search for complexity, dynamics, multi-layered architectural space.”

The museum resembles a spaceship floating in the air in defiance of all the laws of gravity, and Zaha herself is sometimes called an “alien” and even a “witch.” People who met her personally say that photographs do not convey her demonic beauty and spiritual power at all.

She, like all talented people, has many enemies, but even her most implacable opponents admit that many of Zaha’s works are truly magnificent. Thirty years ago, hardly anyone would have dared to say this about a female architect, but Zaha has radically changed the situation.

In 2010, the Pritzker Prize was again awarded to a woman - Japanese Kazuo Sejima. Today this no longer surprises anyone and does not cause such a stir as in the case of Zaha, because she was a pioneer.

Zakha has visited Russia several times. On May 31, 2004, the ceremony of awarding Zaha Hadid the Pritzker Prize took place in the building of the Hermitage Theater (St. Petersburg). Also in 2004, Hadid gave a keynote lecture at the Moscow Central House of Architects (CDA). A year later (in 2005), Zaha Hadid gave a master class as part of the ARCH-Moscow exhibition.

Hadid is a member of the International Trustee Committee for the creation of the Melnikov House Museum in Moscow. Even at the beginning of her dizzying career, Zaha set herself the task of continuing the unfinished project of modernism in the experimental spirit of the early avant-garde.

Tectonics by Malevich

She was attracted to the Russian avant-garde artists by the spirit of courage, risk, innovation, desire for everything new and faith in the power of invention. Even during the period of Zaha, he was passionately interested in the Russian avant-garde and in particular the work of the great Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. Many years later she will say that she dreams of hanging “Black Square” in her living room. Zaha’s thesis was called “Malevich’s Tectonics” and was a project for an inhabited bridge over the Thames. Zaha took an original approach to her work, abandoning projections and using painting as a design method. She doesn’t like that modern students can hardly draw, preferring to use a computer. Zakha was taught the basics of painting by her mother, and for each of her projects she makes several hundred sketches, from which a new architectural masterpiece is then born.

From the fragmentary architecture of her early projects, created under the influence of the works of Malevich and Kandinsky, she gradually moved to complex fluid forms in which the organic principle is increasingly manifested. Architecture has again become an art, giving birth to new amazing worlds. Freeing himself from the oppression of habitual forms, a person learns to create his own routes in space and learns to think outward, and not inward. For Zaha, creativity is a way of understanding and shaping the world.

In an era when religions and philosophies are powerless in the face of the global problems of the 21st century, architecture comes to the fore as an art that can unite people and change their attitude towards each other. The future is coming today, and its shape will be determined by such talented and active people as Zaha Hadid.


Boat Z-Boat

Shoes by Zaha Hadid for Lacoste	Shoes by Zaha Hadid for Melissa

Cultural Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2007 - ?)

Zaha builds not only in Europe, Asia and the USA. Her architectural projects are also in demand in the Middle East. Her work for this challenging region includes the Sheikh Said Cultural Center and Bridge in Abu Dhabi, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bahrain, the Dancing Towers in Dubai and office buildings in Egypt. Due to current circumstances, Zaha cannot return to her homeland yet, but she admits that she was happy to build something in Baghdad.

“I think that first of all it is necessary to restore not even the city and its infrastructure, although this is also necessary, but civil society. - she says in an interview with Itogi magazine, - What lasted for fifteen years simply completely destroyed it, I know stories about how people were forced to sell their children to buy food. We should, of course, take advantage of the experience of architects to think about and understand what to do with destroyed cities. Baghdad was an amazing city, just like Beirut once was..."

However, the situation may change. It recently became known that the Iraqi government has invited Zaha to design a new building for the Central Bank of Iraq. If circumstances go well, this project will be the first for her home country.

In May 2010, the National Museum of 21st Century Art opened in Rome. Construction cost 150 million euros and at that time was the largest building of all designed by Zacha. In the same year, this museum received the Stirling Prize (Great Britain) for the best architectural design and was named the best building of the year (according to WAF).

In addition to exhibition halls, the Museum is equipped with a conference room, a library, workshops and event spaces. Two divisions - painting and architecture - collect, study and popularize contemporary art.

The Romans nicknamed the building "pasta". The spiral-shaped concrete structure with an area of 27 thousand square meters cost the authorities 150 million euros. The building was based on the Montello barracks complex: the classical façade of the barracks houses the main entrance to the museum.

National Museum of 21st Century Art, Rome, Italy (1998 - 2009)

2010 generally became one of the most successful years for Zaha Hadid. Her company has orders for the next decade; about twenty projects are already under construction around the world. In 2011, it is planned to open the Opera House in Guangzhou, and in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the construction of a sports complex for water sports will be completed. The days when its buildings were not wanted to be built in the UK are long gone. Zaha lost the Battle of Cardiff, but won the war in the capital of her second homeland - Great Britain.

She works a lot and successfully, including in Russia, where she is involved in several projects, including a private house in Barvikha, the Zhivopisnaya Tower residential complex and an office building. In 2005, the Capital Group company announced its cooperation with Hadid in the design of the Zhivopisnaya Tower residential complex on Zhivopisnaya Street in Moscow.

In 2012, in the Moscow region, in the area of Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway, a futuristic mansion was built according to the design of Zaha Hadid, the customer of which was Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin. A house called Capital Hill Residence is designed in the shape of a spaceship and was built in the village of Barvikha.

Private mansion in Barvikha, Russia

The mansion is made in eco-style - a mixture of modern technologies with natural forms and is located away from neighboring buildings in the middle of a pine forest. Its area is 2,650 square meters. The two 22-meter towers house bedrooms and children's rooms. In the basement there is a Finnish sauna, hammam, Russian bath, fitness room and guest room.

Interestingly, the master bedrooms will be located at the top of the 22-meter tower, as will the children's rooms. The tower, like the stern of a ship, rises above the house, from which a wonderful view of the pine forest opens.

In 2015, in Moscow, in the Dubrovka area, it is planned to open the Dominion Tower business center, built according to the project of “Zaha Hadid Architects” in Zaha’s unchanged architectural style - in the avant-garde style (the main construction was completed in 2014).

Dominion Tower Business Center

Zaha herself speaks about her work like this:

“I try to convey the emotions that a person experiences when he finds himself in the wild, in an unfamiliar, unexplored place. Understanding nature has nothing to do with a linear coordinate system... I'm interested in creating a space where you have a choice of coordinate system. When you find yourself in the wild, you don't have a set route, and you discover places and things you weren't looking to discover. Sometimes you feel lost, but this only emphasizes that there are other ways. Many people are uncomfortable with this approach because people in general don't like to have their ideas of right and wrong questioned. On the contrary, what I like most is changing my opinions. This is precisely the reason why people travel, see the world, and experiment. And it really surprises me how committed people are to one way of being. This needs to be changed, and it needs to be changed constantly.”

Now let's look at the most famous projects and structures of Dame Zaha Hadid. That is, all her best projects that have already been implemented, and those that will soon become a reality.

Guangzhou Opera House, China (2003 - 2010)

Guangzhou Opera House – is considered one of the largest theaters in China and is practically in no way inferior to the Beijing National Theater and the Shanghai Grand Theater. It is the largest performing arts center in southern China.

The theater in Guangzhou has been in operation for 4 years. It took five years to build, spending more than $200 million on construction. They say that the architect admitted that her work was inspired by extraordinary images taken from the field of topography and geology. It is no coincidence that the design has broken lines, which partly resemble river valleys, narrow gorges, and inaccessible canyons.

The main hall of the theater can accommodate 1800 people. The Guangzhou Opera House also has a small hall for 400 people. The theater and multifunctional hall covers an area of 70,000 m2 and is built of concrete, glass and steel. The architectural structure of the building is divided into triangles. Zaha Hadid created the project together with Patrick Schumacher.

Living Stones (Pierresvives) in Montpellier, France. Center for knowledge and sports for everyone
The building, named "Living Stones", houses the archives, library and sports department of the Hérault department, in which Montpellier is located. Hadid planned to create a kind of tree whose branches develop in a horizontal direction. The institutions were located accordingly: the archive, which requires a minimum number of windows, is on the ground floor; library - on the second; and at the top are the offices of sports officials. The common feature is a long lobby with exhibition space.

Sharp corners are softened and rounded this time; concrete and glass seem to flow along the facades. The shapes of the building are repeated in the outlines of the parking lot.

“Pleated” Eli and Edith Broad Museum of Art. Lansing, USA

The museum is located on the outskirts of the University of Michigan campus. When designing the building, Zaha Hadid was inspired by the central part of the campus, built in the brick neo-Gothic style, as well as the lines of the highways passing by. The result was an elongated structure clad in stainless steel. The metal is collected in deep “folds”. Since many people want to touch the unusual building, the steel was treated with special compounds to prevent excessive shine and fingerprints.

The museum covers an area of 4273 sq.m. The exhibitions are located on both ground and underground floors; There was also space for a store, a café and an educational wing.

Galaxy Soho complex in Beijing, China
The Galaxy Soho shopping and entertainment center has recently opened. Its area is 332,857 sq.m., height is 67 m. Four egg-shaped buildings are connected to each other by numerous “suspended bridges”, all together reminiscent of a scene from a science fiction film. It seems, according to Ms. Hadid, the future has already arrived!

Three above-ground floors and one underground are intended for trade; The 12 upper floors house offices. Under the roofs there are bars and restaurants with panoramic views of the city. The two-tier underground parking can accommodate 1,275 cars. The base of the building is a standard concrete load-bearing structure with a span of 8.4 m. The height of the lower floors is 5.4 m, in the office part – 3.5 m.

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Baku, Azerbaijan

A cultural center designed by Zaha Hadid was recently built in Azerbaijan. There is a museum, a library, a conference hall, and a hall for special events. The outline of the building resembles waves or folds formed from concrete; Numerous windows are hidden in the folds. According to Hadid, such a number of glazed surfaces both inside and on the facades will save on lighting.

Built in 2013, the Heydar Aliyev Center is a modern cultural center that has become a new symbol of Baku and all of Azerbaijan. It is a complex structure that includes an auditorium, museum, concert hall, exhibition halls and administrative offices.

The real highlight of the building is the round-shaped concert hall, designed for 2000 seats. The hall is made entirely of wood; this material allows for ideal acoustics.

Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi, UAE

The fourth bridge, connecting the island emirate of Abu Dhabi with the mainland, was designed by the architectural studio of Zaha Hadid. The 842 m long openwork structure is considered one of the most intricate bridges in the world. There is multi-lane traffic here, there is a pedestrian path and an emergency lane. The asymmetrical arches of the bridge resemble sand dunes in the desert. The design easily withstands wind gusts of up to 160 km/h. The bridge was opened 8 years after the start of its construction, in 2010.

Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow

The Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow is a completed project. Initially, the museum was planned to open in 2009, but construction was suspended due to the crisis, and seven years passed from the start of construction to the opening. But it was worth it. Football Stadium 2022, Qatar

The stadium in the port city of Al Wakrah will be part of a grand development covering an area of 585,000 square meters. Its capacity is 40,000 spectators, while the upper tier of the stadium will be removable, which will reduce the capacity by half after the end of the championship.

Golden metro station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The female architect, whose name is Zaha Hadid, is considered one of the most original, unusual and most successful modern architects in the world. You could say that Zaha Hadid is a modern Gaudi. This author is called a real genius, and her buildings and structures of the most unusual shapes are located in many countries of the world and still continue to be built according to the crazy plans of a talented creator.

Zaha Hadid - Arab architect, born in 1950 in Baghdad. He currently resides in Britain and is considered both an Arab and British architect. She holds the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The style of her works refers to deconstructivism. Deconstructivism is a striking contrast to the polished and carefully planned constructivism. We can say that deconstructivism is surrealism in architecture. Often these are very complex shapes of objects with broken and irregular lines. Also, this style is characterized by an invasion of the urban area in the most aggressive way, that is, among ordinary residential buildings, a building made of glass rises, or among the flat buildings, a low and crooked house suddenly appears, which looks like a lump of crumpled paper, and so on, and it is located in such unexpected places What seems to be is not the plan of the builders, but the building fell here accidentally and completely by accident. Zaha Hadid is a real talent. She became one of the most prominent figures in the style described above. Her homes and buildings are so highly regarded that in 2004 she received the Pritzker Prize, which is equal in value to the Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize. Zaha Hadid was awarded in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage building.

As already mentioned, its buildings and structures are located in different countries of the world, including Russia: a futuristic mansion on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway in Moscow, the Dominion Tower business center in Moscow in the Dubrovka area and others. In addition, her small works are in museums such as the German DAM Museum, etc. Zaha Hadid works with installations, creates theatrical scenery, experimental furniture, shoe design, paints, and does interior design.

Zaha Hadid

40-storey hotel in Macau, China

Opus Office Tower in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Residential building in Manhattan, USA

Golden metro station in Riyadh

Changsha International Center for Culture and Art in China

Multipurpose complex Beko Masterplan in Belgrade

Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow

Skyscrapers Signature Towers in Dubai, UAE

Tokyo Olympic Stadium 2020, Japan

Burnham Pavilions in Chicago, USA

Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China

“My whole life has been a constant struggle to translate my ideas into concrete.”

World famous British architect Zaha Hadid can capture the imagination of any person. Its structures resemble space structures. They cannot help but stand out among the rectangular buildings familiar to our eyes.

“I try to convey the emotions that a person experiences when he finds himself in the wild, in an unfamiliar, unexplored place. Comprehension of nature has nothing to do with a linear coordinate system. I'm interested in creating a space where you have a choice of coordinate system. A lot of people are uncomfortable with this approach because, in general, people don’t like to have their ideas of right and wrong questioned.”“, she says.

The architect received her largest awards and world recognition after fifty. In 2004, Zaha became the first female architect to receive the Pritzker Prize (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for architects). The award ceremony took place in the building of the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg. Several years ago, during the celebration of the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, Zaha received the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Let's turn to history. Zaha Hadid was born in Iraq. Her father was one of the founders of the National Democratic Party of Iraq, a major pro-Western industrialist. The girl never wore a burqa and, unlike the rest of the country's population, had the opportunity to travel freely around the world.

“I can’t say that I belong to any cultural community. I left Iraq when I was 15 years old and did not live in the East after that. I wouldn’t say that my behavior fits within the framework of Muslim culture. As for gender discrimination, it seems to me that the difficulties became much greater as my work became more convincing.”, - shared the architect.

Zaha received her primary education at a French convent school in Baghdad. In 1968 she went to Lebanon, where she studied mathematics at the American University of Beirut. Then she continued her studies in London, at the Architectural Association, where she became a student of Rem Koolhaas, a famous Dutch architect and rebel. Koolhaas considered Zaha his most talented student and called him “a planet in its own orbit.” Of course, Koolhaas, as a “deconstructionist theorist,” had a major influence on Hadid. As a student, Zakha was interested in the Russian avant-garde, especially the work of Kazimir Malevich. She is currently a member of the International Trustee Committee for the creation of the Melnikov House Museum in Moscow.

Many years ago, Hadid founded her own architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects. Her famous author's style is present in all the company's projects. The master’s works are varied: from private mansions to opera houses and football stadiums. The appearance of the structures is fascinating, but many critics argue about the practicality of such buildings. Zaha implements her projects all over the world, dispelling any doubts. For example, the football stadium in Qatar amazes not only with its appearance, but also with its technical devices. According to the author's idea, it will have a sliding roof. Thanks to this, the size of the room can be adjusted, increasing or decreasing it by half.

The Heydar Aliyev Center is called one of the most daring engineering projects of our time. It has become a new symbol of Baku and all of Azerbaijan. The cultural center is a complex facility that includes an auditorium, museum, concert hall, exhibition halls and administrative offices.

Throughout her career, Zakha was not afraid to experiment. Until the mid-2000s, the architect’s work can be attributed to deconstructivism, then to parametric architecture. Its buildings with incredible interiors began to look like spaceships.

It is worth noting that large architectural structures are not the author’s only occupation. Zaha makes installations, theater sets, experimental furniture, shoe design, interior design, and even paints.

Zakha has visited Russia several times. In 2005, the architect collaborated with the Capital Group company. The work involved designing the Zhivopisnaya Tower residential complex on Zhivopisnaya Street in Moscow.

In 2012, a futuristic mansion was built in the Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway area - one of Zaha’s most unusual buildings in Russia. Three years later, another presentation of the architect’s work took place. The Dominion Tower business center, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in an avant-garde style, opened in the Dubrovka area. The building consists of seven floors shifted relative to each other.

Throughout her career, Zaha has been teaching, giving lectures and organizing master classes in many countries around the world. Hadid gave a keynote lecture at the Moscow Central House of Architects (CDA). A year later, as part of the ARCH Moscow exhibition, Zaha gave a master class.

“It is very difficult for a woman to become an architect, because the profession puts a lot of pressure on a person and takes up a monstrous amount of time that a woman wants to spend on her family and children. Look at me: I work all the time, and I have no family, no children. But I have a different goal. My whole life has been a constant struggle to translate my ideas into concrete.", - Hadid admits.

Her work has always been the center of attention. But the projects that won the competitions remained unrealized. For many years, the architect worked “on the table”, unable to implement her plans. The opinion has been established that her projects are good on paper, but cannot be brought to life. Zaha was able to prove the opposite. Critics consider her the most popular and sought-after architect of our time.

Editor's note: quotes from Zaha Hadid's interview with SALON magazine 2004.

Zaha Hadid in front of the Glasgow Transport Museum she designed

Zaha Hadid is a laureate of the Pritzker Prize (analogous to the Nobel Prize in architecture), the first woman and Muslim to receive it, and holder of the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Zaha Hadid died on March 31, 2016 from a heart attack, but her work remains one of the most striking in the history of modern architecture.
Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad on October 31, 1950 in the family of an industrialist, one of the founders of the National Democratic Party of Iraq, a representative of the Western-oriented big bourgeoisie. Already at the age of 11, she decided that she wanted to become an architect. Zaha first received her mathematics education at the American University of Beirut. But in 1972 she went to the UK to attend the Architectural Association School in London. There her teachers were Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis.
She was strongly influenced as an architect by the Russian architectural avant-garde of the 1920s and the work of Kazimir Malevich, but her creative language remains vividly original. Koolhaas called it "a planet in its own orbit." Zenghelis considered her the most talented person who had ever studied with him.
In 1977 she worked for six months in the workshop of Rem Koolhaas OMA, and in 1979 she founded her own bureau in London Zaha Hadid Architects. With her original and uncompromising approach to creativity, Hadid could not handle small commissions for individuals, so she remained teaching at the Architectural Association (until 1987), continuing to design and participate in competitions.
Her project for the Peak club (1983) on a hill above Hong Kong, which won a major international competition, attracted public attention to Hadid, but remained unrealized because the client went bankrupt. In 1994, Hadid gained wide popularity in the UK by winning a competition to design an opera house in Cardiff, but the developer, influenced by public opinion, after a year and a half of conflicts, abandoned the project, fearing the originality of the architectural solution. These and other projects brought her victory in prestigious architectural competitions, interest, and then popularity among professionals, but remained on paper. Largely due to the unwillingness of customers to accept its non-standard and original design.
Hadid's first completed project was the Vitra fire station in Weil am Rhein (1991-1993), Germany.

Vitra Fire Station | Germany RIM Creation

The situation changed dramatically in 1999, when construction began on the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, USA. From that moment on, Hadid began to be invited to work in different countries of the world.

Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, 2003 Roland Halbe

Zaha Hadid's paintings and drawings have been exhibited many times in many countries around the world. Hadid's works are included in many museum collections, in particular MoMA and the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main (DAM).
Hadid's personal life has never been publicly discussed. What is known is that she lived in the historic district of London, Clerkenwell, not far from her office, and her home was a surgically clean space filled with avant-garde furniture. Zaha called herself a Muslim. She passed away on March 21, 2016, in a hospital in Miami, where she was treated for bronchitis. But she left behind her idea of the cities of the future.

Here are some of Zaha Hadid's completed projects.

UK, Oxford, 2015

Investcorp Building of the Middle East Center at St Anthony's College, University of Oxford Luke Hayes

Italy, Salerno, 2016. Marine terminal in Salerno

Marine terminal in Salerno Hélène Binet

China, Guangzhou, 2016. Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza complex

Guangzhou Infinitus Plaza Zaha Hadid Architects

Belgium, Antwerp, 2016. Antwerp Port Authority building

Antwerp Port Authority building Hélène Binet

In the immediate vicinity of Moscow, in the elite village of Barvikha near Moscow, there is also a creation by Zaha Hadid, owned by Vladislav Doronin. A house called Capital Hill Residence in the shape of a spaceship was built in eco-style - a mixture of modern technologies with natural forms. The house is located away from neighboring mansions in the middle of a pine forest. Its area is 2,650 sq. m. In two 22-meter towers there are bedrooms and children's rooms. In the basement there is a Finnish sauna, hammam, Russian bath, fitness room and guest room.

Private mansion in Barvikha, Russia

Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, 2017. King Abdullah Petroleum Research and Study Center

King Abdullah Petroleum Science and Research Center Hufton+Crow

Slovakia, Bratislava, 2017. Sky Park complex

Complex Sky Park Penta Investments

Italy, Afragola, 2017. Naples - Afragola high-speed railway station

Naples-Afragola train station Jacopo Spilimbergo

Messner Mining Museum - Corones. Italy, 2015

Messner Mountain Museum - Corones Inexhibit

Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan

The Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow was originally planned to open in 2009, but construction was suspended due to the crisis, and 7 years passed from the start of construction to the opening.

Riverside Transport Museum in Glasgow

In 2015, an office building designed by Zaha Hadid was built at 5 Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street in Moscow.

Dominion Tower Hufton + Crow Business Center

The Burnham Pavilions in Chicago were a tribute to the famous American city planner Daniel Burnham. Inside, audio and video installations were shown showing the development of Chicago, from the past to the future.

Burnham Pavilions in Chicago, USA

Zaha Hadid projects in progress

The stadium in the port city of Al Wakrah, Qatar, will be part of a grand development covering an area of 585,000 square meters. m. Its capacity is 40,000 spectators, while the upper tier of the stadium will be removable, which will reduce the capacity by half after the end of the championship.

Football Stadium 2022, Qatar

But in the capital of Saudi Arabia they will build a metro station made of gold. According to Zaha, while working on the project, she was inspired by the dunes of Saudi Arabia, the smooth contours of which she tried to give to the station itself. They will also use a new passenger access system, which should help avoid crowding during rush hours.

Golden metro station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

In Serbia, a complex of apartments, offices and leisure space located on the abandoned site of an old textile factory is set to become Belgrade's new landmark. In addition to the programs listed above, the proposed complex also includes a five-star hotel, a convention center, galleries and shops, as well as underground parking for guests and residents of the city

Beko Masterplan mixed-use development in Belgrade, Serbia

The Manhattan house will be in the shape of the letter L, and its inner corner will be built in a zigzag, which will separate the two parts of the building. On the 11th floor there will be 37 apartments with an area of up to 510 square meters and a ceiling height of more than 3 meters. The house will also have a spa, garden and indoor pool.

Residential building in Manhattan, USA

The new university in Hong Kong is intended to become an architectural landmark. It will be a complex of educational and research laboratories. The seamless architecture of the building symbolizes the dynamics of current and future achievements and produces an impressive visual effect.

Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China

In Bonn, the studio took on the task of improving an existing building by German architect Siegfried Wolske. Hadid's work contains two transparent facades facing the river. It is planned to build terraces around the building where outdoor performances will be held.

Beethoven Festival Bonn 2020, Germany

The building in Macau, China, consists of two towers connected at the podium and roof level, with several additional bridges in the middle. The hotel, with a total area of 150,000 square meters, consists of 780 rooms, suites and penthouses, conference halls, gaming rooms, lobby, restaurants, spa and outdoor pool. You can admire the view of Macau from the tower from the panoramic elevators. Construction of the hotel began in 2013.

40-storey hotel in Macau, China

An ensemble of a “big theater”, a museum of modern art and a “small theater” (multifunctional hall) will appear on the shores of Meixihu Lake in Changsha, China. Three volumes will be located on a spacious “plaza”, which will be complemented by a deep “courtyard” with restaurants and shops.

Changsha International Culture and Art Center, China

Tall skyscrapers are designed to become the new business center of Dubai. As befits buildings of this scale, it will house offices, a hotel and a shopping center.

Skyscrapers Signature Towers in Dubai, UAE

The 21-storey building in Abu Dhabi, 93 meters high, is a giant cube with a cavity inside that appears to float above the ground. It is equipped with a unique backlight, due to which it looks completely different at night and during the day. During the day the cube is hollow, and at night this space is filled with light.

Opus Office Tower in Abu Dhabi, UAE

The new Tokyo Olympic Stadium will be built on the site of the former stadium, famous for the 1964 Olympics, and will become the main Olympic venue in the land of the rising sun. It is designed for 80 thousand people, and its area will be 290,000 square meters. m. Completion of construction is scheduled for 2018.

Tokyo Olympic Stadium 2020, Japan
Sources.

On March 31, 2016, at the age of 66, the talented British architect of Iraqi origin Zaha Hadid, who managed to do a lot in such a short life and left behind a huge creative legacy, left this world. Her passing was so sudden, and her legacy so great, that it took some time to comprehend and summarize everything.

Zaha Hadid's architectural works were built in 45 countries, including Russia, and her paintings and drawings are in many museum collections. She designed skyscrapers and easily designed shoes, furniture, dishes and more. Zaha Hadid was in demand in almost all areas of art.

During her lifetime, many considered her a genius ahead of her time, but there were also those who refused to recognize her. Zaha Hadid's architectural studio is located in London, but in this city there is only one facility built according to her design - the Aquatics Center, built 5 years ago for the Summer Olympic Games. It immediately becomes clear how her work was “valued” there. She has said more than once that being a female architect, and even a foreigner, is very difficult.

Aquatics Centre, London (2011)

In Russia, only two facilities were built. The residential building in Barvikha was built in 2008.

House in Barvikha, Moscow, Russia, 2008

The Dominion Tower business center on Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street in Moscow was opened at the end of 2015. The building is very simple on the outside and interesting on the inside.

Dominion Tower, Moscow

Photo: Natalia Kupriyanova

There was another project, but, unfortunately, it remained on paper. In 2008, it was planned to create a complex near the Moscow International Business Center (MIBC).

Zaha Hadid, according to many experts, is a prominent representative of deconstructivism in architecture. Her buildings are the architecture of the future: dynamic, bold and unique.

Surprisingly, she decided on her future profession at the age of 11 and followed her dream throughout her life.

In 1972, after graduating from the American University of Beirut, Hadid came to London and entered the Architectural Association school of architecture. Her teachers were Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis.

1975/76. (Photo © Architectural Association Photo Library)

Zaha Hadid (standing) with Rem Koolhaas, Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp at the 1978 first edition of the art magazine Viz.

After working in Rem Koolhaas's firm after graduating, in 1980, 30-year-old Zaha Hadid founded her own architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, in London. She teaches at the Architectural Association, designs a lot and participates in international competitions.

Zaha Hadid and Alvin Boyarsky in 1980. Photographer Andrew Higgott

We divided the work of Zaha Hadid into three periods:
1st period: 1977-1992 — “paper architecture”;
2nd period: 1993-2003 — deconstructivist architecture;
period: 2004-2016 - recognition, corporate identity - Zaha Hadid brand.

"Paper Architecture"

The work of Zaha Hadid was strongly influenced by the Soviet avant-garde artist, founder of Suprematism in painting, Kazemir Malevich. Her graduation project was the transformation of Malevich's work into a 14-story hotel over the Thames. She admired Malevich, read and easily understood his works.

Zaha Hadid came to architecture through her paintings.

“Malevich’s Tectonics” (1977) © Zaha Hadid Architects

And the painting “Residence of the Irish Prime Minister” (Dublin, 1979-80) is often compared with the graphics of another representative of the Soviet avant-garde - Kandinsky.

“Residence of the Irish Prime Minister” © Zaha Hadid Architects

Paintings by Zaha Hadid

1 of 8

"Peace (89 degrees)"© Zaha Hadid Architects

"Trafalgar Square London, UK, 1988

Tectonics Malevich 1977

The beginning of Zaha Hadid’s creative career was quite difficult; many call it “paper” - almost all of her work remains on paper.

An inverted skyscraper for the English city of Leicester (1990) remained unrealized.

The project of the Peak sports club (1983) on a hill above Hong Kong won an international competition, but the customer went bankrupt.

In 1994, Zaha Hadid wins the competition to design the Opera House in Cardiff Bay, the developer is intimidated by the original design and eventually abandons the project.

She takes on small residential projects and interiors.

Interior of the Moonjun restaurant in Sapporo, Japan (1990)

Residential building in Berlin 1993.

Deconstructivist architecture

In 1993, the construction of the fire station building of the designer furniture manufacturer Vitra, shaped like a Stealth bomber, was completed. After this object, fame came to the architect Zaha Hadid.

Photo: Wojtek Gurkttp

According to Hadid herself, a surge of interest in her work began after the building of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was built in 1997, designed by Frank Gehry, which captivated everyone with its sculpturality and originality. Zaha Hadid's projects no longer frighten customers with their originality and boldness of execution.

LFOne, Germany, 1996-1999.

Train station terminal in Strasbourg, France (1998-2001).

Bergisel ski jump (2002).

In 1999, construction began on the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, USA (opened 2003).

www.azahner.com

It was for this project that Zaha Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2004 and became the first female architect in history to receive this high award. From this moment on, she becomes one of the most sought-after architects in the world.

Corporate identity - Zaha Hadid brand

The next stage in her career begins. Zaha Hadid moves away from “classical” deconstructivism, smooth lines and organic forms appear in her works. Her work no longer fits into any architectural genre except her own.

BMW Central Building, Leipzig, Germany (2005).

Science Center Phaeno, Wolfsburg, Germany, (2005 ).

Maggie Center Kirkcaldy (2006)

photo by Hélène Binet

Hadid didn't like working on a computer, but quickly realized the benefits of 3-D modeling. She switches to working on a computer and the architecture of her buildings changes. Smooth shapes replaced sharp corners.

Hungerburg station, Innsbruck, Austria (2007).

www.urbanarchnow.com

Channel Mobile Art Exhibition Pavilion in Hong Kong (2008).

Victor Fraile/Reuters

MAXXI - Museum of Art of the 21st Century, Rome (2009).

Guangzhou Opera House, China (2010).

Evelyn Grace Academy, London (2010).

Sheikh Zayed Bridge. Abu Dhabi, UAE (2010).

In 2011, the Riverside Transport Museum was built in Glasgow (Scotland, UK).

www.oldtimer.ru

In 2012, construction of the Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Michigan was completed.

The corner façade is made of glass and folds of stainless steel.

Shopping and entertainment center Galaxy Soho, Beijing (2012).

Serpentine Sackle Gallery, London (2013)

Jockey club building of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2013).

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Baku (2013).

fly2baku.com

www.buro247.ru

DDP Design Center, Seoul (2014).

Messner Mining Museum, Italy. (2015)

Messner Mining Museum

Residential complex in New York (construction to be completed in 2017)

In 2016, Hadid became the first woman to receive a gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Brands and celebrities are lining up to work with Hadid. She collaborates with famous brands of clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture and decor, and creates concepts for yachts and cars.

Wooden vase

Stone vases www.dezeen.com

Triflow Faucet - Zaha Hadid design.