Zaha Hadid, Groundbreaking Architect, Dies at 65 (nytimes.com)

An anonymous reader quotes an article on The New York Times about the death of Zaha Hadid: Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-British architect whose curving, elongated structures left a mark on skylines around the world, and who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, her profession's highest honor, died on Thursday in Miami. She was 65. Ms. Hadid "contracted bronchitis earlier this week and suffered a sudden heart attack while being treated in hospital," her office, Zaha Hadid Architects in London, said in a statement. [...] She was also a role model and inspiration for generations of young architects, men and women, who wanted to become Ms. Hadid: an architect of boundless ambition, a celebrity, and an artist with big ideas who won commissions for some of the world's big, flashiest projects by the sheer force of her intelligence, creativity and personality. Ms. Hadid epitomized an era when architects became global brands. Her brand promised buildings of extravagant sculptural invention, spectacles of curving, swooping, unprecedented forms. She represented the epitome of the art of so-called parametric design, by which architects, aided by sophisticated computer programs, could animate buildings into new shapes. You will want to read her profile on The Guardian.

Comments

I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good.

[Zeio]

I just looked at her work in images.google. Do not want. They are not really that pleasing to look at. I like the Roman/Greek and large medieval/renaissance buildings - golden ratio, "perfect" aesthetics. These Zaha works are just ugly and trying to be different and lead to higher cost, hard to maintain with that comes leaks and I don't think they are aesthetically pleasing.

Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good.

[pushing-robot]

Her company's interior designs are nice, but the exteriors are reminiscent of generic modern sculptures which scream "Look at me, I'm art!" but lack beauty or emotional power.

Also, I don't know what's going on in her drawings, but I'm pretty sure it's not architecture.

When id /. become Jezebel?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is a tech site celebrating this woman, because she used a computer at work? WTF, is there a feminist story quota on /. now?

How proficient do you need to be at Word to get a write-up now?

Immigration and Refugee asylum

[mrops]

At the time of her death, just a reminder that she also represents why Immigration and Refugee asylum is essential.

Growing up in Iraq, she eventually migrated to Britain before creating a mark globally. Made the lives of many a little bit happier as art does.

Listen to the xenophobes and such talent may not get the recognition it deserves and humanity would lose talent that could have been.

Re:Immigration and Refugee asylum

[CRCulver]

At the time of her death, just a reminder that she also represents why Immigration and Refugee asylum is essential.

Zaha Hadid (after receiving a secular upbringing and attending an American university) came to the UK for graduate studies. I don't see anyone complaining about people who do that: indeed, the UK has made such foreign students a major source of revenue for higher education. I don't think that Zaha Hadid's case says much about the desirability or not of asylum seekers.

The Makers

[westlake]

Why is a tech site celebrating this woman, because she used a computer at work? WTF, is there a feminist story quota on /. now?

doesn't seem out of place to ask the geek to at least acknowledge the accomplishments of women in architecture and engineering. particularly as expressed in a body of work of such extrordinary audacity and technical sophistication.