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

Posted by msmash on from the rest-in-peace dept.

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.

11 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Bad pun, moderate downward by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 3, Funny

    Isn't it the construction crew, not the architect, who are "groundbreaking"?

  2. I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by Zeio · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Legalize the constitution. Think for yourself question authority.
    1. Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 5, Funny

      These Zaha works are just ugly and trying to be different... I don't think they are aesthetically pleasing.

      Sorry, but all the good-looking designs have been taken. If you want to prove to the world that you're a brilliant artistic genius, which they make everyone swear an oath to do in architecture school, then you have to make something ugly, because that's all that's left.

      You're probably just not smart enough to see the Emperor's clothes--er, I mean, the beauty.

    2. Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by pushing-robot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

      --
      How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    3. Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by dj245 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

      Completely agree. She always came across to me as a self-righteous individual who had no qualms about wasting other people's money. Based on her whining about losing the Tokyo stadium, I would guess she was a pain to work with as well.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    4. Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 2

      I strongly disliked her earlier works but feel that she was just starting in the last ten years to mature as a designer so it is sad to see her die just as her vision was becoming more natural and sophisticated. see https://www.google.com/search?...

    5. Re:I'm sorry, but the buildings dont look good. by hey! · · Score: 2

      I like the Roman/Greek and large medieval/renaissance buildings - golden ratio, "perfect" aesthetics.

      And other people like other things. I'm with you on practical issues like leaks -- a building really ought to work before it does anything else. But you really can't scale up those old Medieval buildings before you end up with a dull ungainly monstrosities like those horrible baroque palaces in central Europe. They make Soviet Brutalist architecture look playful.

      And as for classical architecture -- how do you apply that to a skyscraper or office block? Consider that many of this woman's buildings would drawf the Parthenon in terms of working footage.

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      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  3. Immigration and Refugee asylum by mrops · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Immigration and Refugee asylum by CRCulver · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

  4. Re:Improving the world by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow! You are right. Before you mentioned it I thought Muslims were all terrorists. Thank you for your keen insight.

  5. The Makers by westlake · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.