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Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-British architect known around the world for her curvy and innovative designs, died suddenly this morning in Miami, her London-based firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, announced. She suffered a heart attack while being treated in a Miami hospital for bronchitis.
Widely considered the greatest female architect in history, Zaha was born in 1950 in Baghdad. She initially studied math at the American University of Beirut before beginning her architectural career in 1972 at London’s Architectural Association.
She opened Zaha Hadid Architects in London in 1979 with Patrik Schumacher as her office partner. Her first major commission, the Vitra Fire Station in Weil Am Rhein, Germany, built in 1993, catapulted her to international acclaim.
In a long and distinguished list of accolades, Zaha was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.
Earlier this year, she also became the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal.
Some of her other notable works include the Cardiff Bay Opera House in Wales, The Peak in Hong Kong, Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm and the London Aquatics Center built for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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