iraqi-born architect zaha hadid has been selected to be the first woman to win the coveted architectural pritzker prize for 2004. woo for zaha! even tho she looks like a mountain troll, she rocketh much. her style, alongside thom mayne of morphosis, heavily influenced my design style in school. many of my earlier formative designs took cues from her projects, the most obvious influence being her vitra fire station on my second year project, the 40-year house. her body of built work is still relatively small compared to many other prominent architects, but she is undoubtedly an influential architect. one of her most distinguishing features was her mode of architectural presentation. in order to convey her architectural designs, zaha would paint massive canvases with dynamic exploded forms and delineated landscapes. her style of decon was fluid and compelling, and her architectural representations were as influential as those of her work that were actually built. and while she still looks like a mountain troll, im still looking forward to seeing more of her designs built.
the pritzker is the highest honor bestowed on an architect, with past winner including richard meier, rem koolhaas, tadao ando, and sir norman foster.
> zaha hadid selected for 2004 pritzker (via ny times)
> zaha hadids official site
> list of past pritzker prize winners
ooh…swishy…I knew it would be only a matter of time when more people can appreciate her work. let’s hope more of it gets built now!