Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid is famous for her pioneering approach to architecture and design; her trademarks included fragmented geometries and free-flowing curvilinear shapes. She briefly worked for architect Rem Koolhaas before branching off on her own in order to push concrete, steel, and glass to new limits. Her Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, for example, features a swooping façade, while her Galaxy SOHO complex in Beijing includes four interconnected, asymmetrical domed buildings. Her Riverside Museum in Glasgow zigzags with its own propulsive energy. Hadid also produced free-flowing, almost biomorphic furniture designs. She has been the subject of exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, London’s Design Museum, the State Hermitage Museum, and the Serpentine Galleries. In 2004, Hadid was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Her furniture has sold for up to six figures at auction.