In Memoriam: Zaha Hadid in Vienna
Born in Bagdad in 1950 Zaha Hadid was an Iraqi-British star designer that passed away much too soon. Her works can be appreciated all around the world. She was the first Muslim woman to receive the famous Pritzker Prize in 2004. Born into a wealthy Iraqi family Hadid studied mathematics at the American University in Beirut. After her studies she moved to London in 1972 before she established her own London-based architecture in 1980.
Bergisel Ski Jump Tower (© QEDquid; CC-BY SA 3.0)
With 400 employees Zaha Hadid finished numerous buildings and designs with her design firm Zaha Hadid Architects. Some of those can also be enjoyed in Austria. So was the Library and Learning Centre of the newly opened campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business opened a few years ago. Her architectural language is recognizable and can be described as highly expressive, sweeping fluids of multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry. Entering the library building of the University of Economics in Vienna one is only mesmerized and thinks that a space has just landed on earth.
Zaha Hadid died of a heart attack as a result of a bronchitis on 31 March 2016 in Miami. She was 65.
