Innovatia

More controversy followed after a 2014 re- port disclosed that some 1,000 foreign workers had died because of poor working conditions across construction sites in Qatar, where her Al Wakrah Stadium (later the Al Janoub Stadium) for the 2022 World Cup was set to break ground. When asked about the deaths, Hadid objected to her responsibility as an architect to ensure safe working conditions – remarks that were widely regarded as insensitive. An architecture critic exacerbated the situation when he falsely claimed that 1,000 had died building her stadi- um, though construction was yet to begin. Ha- did filed a defamation lawsuit, and donated the undisclosed settlement sum to a charity pro- tecting labour rights. Her supporters felt that Hadid was subjected to controversies that her male counterparts were not. At all times, Hadid maintained an unwaver- ing determination and commitment to her vision. “Well, it’s not normal practice,” she once con- ceded. “We don’t deal with normative ideas and we don’t make nice little buildings. People think that the most appropriate building is a rectangle, because that’s typically the best way of using space. But is that to say that landscape is a waste of space? The world is not a rectan- gle. You don’t go into a park and say: ‘My God, we don’t have any corners.’” An enduring legacy On March 31, 2016, at the age of 65, Hadid died of a heart attack resulting from pneumonia. She had never married, and had no children, choos- ing to focus single-mindedly on her career. “I think about architecture all the time. That’s the problem. But I’ve always been like that. I dream it sometimes,” she said.

In all the rush to create the large and the high, what new thinking has been applied to the proven importance of the human scale? (See Jane Jacobs “The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961.)”

Hadid brought her dreams into reality, and opened our eyes to a new kind of architecture. Her architecture practice ZHA remains one of the world’s most inventive studios. Zaha Hadid is often referred to as the greatest female architect of her time. Yet she never want- ed to be characterised as a female architect, or even an Arab architect – she simply wanted to be known as an architect, and her work certainly stands up against that of celebrated male peers such as Frank Gehry, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Leoh Ming Pei. It is perhaps impossible to say if she is the great- est architect of the 21st century – architecture, like all art forms, is subjective. But great art touches on the senses, and evokes emotion – and Hadid’s creations certainly achieved that. Her legacy is forever etched in our landscape, and her expres- sive, futuristic designs hold an enduring power to delight and astound those who encounter them.

INNOVATIA

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