Zaha Hadid is an Iraqi-British experimental architect who pushes the boundaries for what typical architecture and urban design looks like. She experiments with abstract shapes in her buildings and is known for her radical, deconstructivism designs. Zara gained international recognition after her award-winning entry for “The Peak”. At the time of her popularity people were focused on post-modernism designs so Zara’s designs set her apart from other architects.

Her work is inspired by Kazimir Malevich who was an avant-garde painter who also used harsh geometric lines in his work. She was also inspired by the Russian suprematism movement which consisted of simple, angular shapes such as circles, squares, and crosses.

During her career she faced a lot of criticism and backlash for a couple of her designs. One of them being the Vauxhall cross island site in London as critiques claimed it overcrowded the area with towers that are too tall and overshadows the surrounding areas. She also faced a lot of prejudice for her failed design of the Guangzhou Opera House in China where reportedly ‘cracks have appeared in the walls and ceilings, glass panels have fallen from its windows, and rain has seeped relentlessly into the building’.

Her architectural style has a lot of feminine qualities to it in comparison to modern day office buildings which are very tall and sharp and exude a more masculine aura. On the other hand Zara uses a lot of curved edges in her buildings with them typically having more width than height which I feel softens the appearance of it a lot