Zaha
Famous for Vitra Fire Station
Zaha Hadi, a world-renowned British architect of Iraqi origin, died at 65 of a heart attack while being treated for bronchitis at a Miami hospital, according to a BBC report. She was known as the "witch" of architecture. She had four projects in Beijing: Wangjing SOHO, Galaxy SOHO, Lize SOHO and the new airport’s Terminal 1.
Died suddenly in the hospital
Zaha Hadid Architects confirmed her death on its Web site, which said she had contracted bronchitis earlier this week and had suffered a heart attack while being treated at a hospital. She died suddenly on the morning of March 31 local time. After the news of her death broke, the architects’ Web site was repeatedly busy and inaccessible.
Extremely famous in the architectural world
Zaha is well-known in international architecture, having become the first female architect to win the Pulitzer Prize in 2004, says Frank Gehry, a jury judge. "The 2004 winner is probably one of the youngest to win and one of the clearest designs I have seen in years. Her work is full of passion and innovation." Last year, Zaha became the first female architect to win the Royal Gold Medal, the highest award in British architecture, from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Zaha has designed many well-known architectural works around the world, such as the New National Arena in Tokyo, the BMW Central Building in Germany, the London Olympic Swimming Pool in the United Kingdom, the Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Center, the Innsbruck Cable Car Station in Austria, the Fino Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany, the Cincinnati Center for Contemporary Art in the United States, and the 170-meter glass tower in Milan.
In Beijing, Zaha’s work includes New Airport Terminal 1, Wangjing SOHO, Galaxy SOHO, and Lize SOHO.
Zhang Xin, chief executive of Soho China, also wrote on Weibo last night: "I just received the shocking news that my good friend Zaha Hadid, an architect, died of a heart attack this morning in Miami. Seeing her in New York last week, I didn’t expect her to be the last of us."
Zaha’s employee, Chinese architect Shen Jianghai:
Her temper is just critical of the design itself
"She has influenced almost everyone who does architectural design," Shen Jianghai, a Chinese architect and former employee of Zaha, told reporters in the morning. Since she was 19 years old and a freshman in college, Zaha has been her most admired architect, and this worship has continued to this day. It has not changed for more than a decade, and no designer can replace it. "It was Zaha who let me know that architecture can be different, and it was also she who taught me from my freshman year how important it is for designers to persevere!"
Shen Jianghai said that in June 2010, he was fortunate enough to get an interview with Zaha Architects and then went to work there. During his working days, everyone worked in a small house that used to be renovated by a girls’ school, so they were able to see her often. Although Zaha’s temper is not very good, it does not affect the charm of a designer at all, and she is usually very gentle, and her temper is only critical of the design itself. "In fact, at that time, I felt that her physical condition was not very good."
Controversies are also her charm
Mr. Shen said it was not unusual for Mr. Zaha’s architectural work to be the subject of controversy online a few years ago over his project in Beijing, which was described by some as "the curve of God and the waves of heaven" and others as ugly.
"The controversy about Zaha is not limited to China. In fact, the world has been full of controversy about Zaha since she was discovered by Japanese architect Isozaki after her first project. But this is also the charm of Zaha, because she has led architectural design to a completely different field. Without her persistence and even paranoia, people would not know that architecture can also be streamlined." Shin Jianghai said that what he admires most about Zaha is her criticism of reality and her non-conformity.
Talking about Zaha and China, in Shen Jianghai’s observation, he felt that Zaha was very interested in China, and not just in the market. "In addition, she sometimes invites colleagues to eat, and she also likes to go to an expensive Chinese restaurant near Chinatown."
Today, the Architect’s Moments are filled with tributes to Zaha. As Shen Jianghai said, without Zaha, he would not be who he is today, and his designs would not be what they are today. "Please go all the way, many people say, you led mankind to a new world, and then you returned to your planet."
character life
The road to fame is full of thorns
Zaha was born in 1950 in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, into a wealthy, enlightened family. Her parents believed in the independence of education, and they invested a lot of expectations in their daughter. Her father’s son, a close friend, was a brilliant architect, and the brother next door had a great influence on the young Zaha.
In 1982, Zaha won the first prize in an international architectural competition held in Hong Kong, China, strengthening her belief in continuing in this field. However, Zaha’s work was rejected in the first review. It was Japanese architect Shin Isozaki who had the unique eyes to fish her plan out of the waste paper pile.
Zaha was so inspired that she taught at Harvard, Yale and other prestigious universities, and her design works cover almost all design categories, including doors and windows, furniture, sculpture ornaments, lamps, chairs, water glasses and tableware. Her paintings are even more avant-garde and have been exhibited all over the world. Her works are permanently collected by industry authorities such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Deutsches Architecture Museum in Frankfurt.
Ms. Zaha’s path to fame was fraught with thorns. Despite her early reputation as a "master deconstructionist," and despite her bold use of geometry and the many awards she has won, sometimes as many as four a year, many people still reject her bizarre designs.