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Zaha Hadid Shatters Stereotypes, and More

© Alia F. Hasan

One of the best known designers in the architecture world, a profession that has long been characterized as male dominated, happens to be female. She also happens to be from the Middle East and her name is Zaha Hadid. Not only does she shatter the stereotype of the accomplished architect as the egotistical male, but whether intentionally or not she defies the stereotype of the Middle Eastern woman as the subjugated housewife with little knowledge of the world. On the contrary she is quite the world traveler and now practices in England. Here is a little more about her:

From Iraq to Europe

Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950. She studied Architecture at the Architectural Association (U.K.) beginning in 1972 and later taught there with another well known architect Rem Koolhas. Previous to this she studied at the American University of Beirut. In 1977 she joined OMA (Office of Metropolitan Architecture) and began her own practice in 1980. Her career has been both academic and professional with visiting professorships at Harvard, Yale, and other universities while also completing theoretical and built works for competitions and clients. She has also displayed her artwork at major exhibitions including the Guggenheim Museum and MOMA-New York (Museum of Modern Art). Her wide-ranging but cutting-edge work has been characterized as modernism. All of her work can be defined by a daring approach to art and architecture, and in the case of architecture a willful abandonment of traditional architectural forms.

Her Work

Zaha Hadid's work spans the globe from the Middle East to East Asia. And her reputation covers those areas as well. A simple search for her name reveals a plethora of sites on her work and biography.

*biographies--

http://www.zaha-hadid.com/

http://www.iit.edu/departments/pr/arch.c...

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/hadid...

Zaha Hadid has received much acclaim for her competition entries, unbuilt design work, and build work including...

*One of her most famous built projects is the Vitra Fire Station in Germany. The project seems to challenge the assumption that a building must be composed of walls at ninety-degrees.

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/contemporary/...

*Another well known project is the Moonsoon Restaurant in Sapporo (1990). The project demonstrates Hadid's angular style adapted to the interiors. (see bio's for images)

Zaha Hadid's work consistently stretches the limits of what architecture has been and what it can be. Her projects, both built and un-built, reflect her ability to succesfully use contemporary technology to create buildings of the future. Her work and background, as a female from the Arab world, set her apart from others in her field by shattering stereotypes and boundaries.