Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid DBE RA (Arabic: زها حديد Zahā Ḥadīd; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect. She was born in Baghdad.
Hadid was elected a Royal Academician in 2005. She became the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize (2004). She received the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 2015 she became the first woman to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal.
Hadid's buildings are neo-futuristic, characterized by curving forms with "multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry to evoke the chaos of modern life".
Drawing and painting were important parts of Hadid's design process, especially before many of her projects could be built. Her early completed buildings included the Vitra Fire Station in Germany, the Bergisel Ski Jump in Austria and the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in the United States. She also designed furniture, interiors and stage sets.
On 31 March 2016, Hadid died of a heart attack in a Miami hospital, where she was being treated for bronchitis, aged 65.
