As the first sole woman to win the medal in its 167-year history (women have shared the prize with others before), Zaha Hadid said, "I am very proud to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal, in particular, to be the first woman to receive the honor in her own right. Part of architecture’s job is to make people feel good in the spaces where we live, go to school or where we work - so we must be committed to raising standards. Housing, schools and other vital public buildings have always been based on the concept of minimal existence – that shouldn’t be the case today. Architects now have the skills and tools to address these critical issues.”
Baghdad-born Hadid, who started her now London-based practice in 1979, adds the Queen of England and Royal Institute of British Architects-given award to other notable prizes, including her 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
In Professor Sir Peter Cook's Royal Gold Medal citation, he notes that Hadid's "vociferous criticism of poor work or stupidity recalls the line-side comments of the tennis player, John McEnroe."
He also noted that "if Paul Klee took a line for a walk, then Zaha took the surfaces that were driven by that line out for a virtual dance and then deftly folded them over and then took them out for a journey into space." Kudos.
9 Comments
Best. Architect. Ever.
YAY WOMAN WE HEAR U rrrrrrrRRRROAR!!1!
does Schumacher get Silver?
and haha to the haters.
Haters are just misogynists. Men do not want women to succeed.
Haters just have horrible taste.
Congratulations to Zaha and it is a much-deserved award.
Rumor on twitter is she did a radio interview this morning and when some topic was raised - not sure what but I assume it's re: treatment of workers in Qatar - she turned angry and stormed off/hung up? Would love to hear it.
Architecture is exceptionally complex, and people (including me) love a juicy story, but the bottom line is Zaha's work is important and influential, and *that* is why she's winning prizes. Brava, cheers, kudos etc to Zaha!
Ah, here it is. And after listening I can only say ROCK ON, ZAHA! Like I said, architecture is enormously complex, and while I don't agree with some aspects of Zaha's practice, the tactic taken by the interviewer in this interview isn't helping *anyone's* cause.
Wish Terry Gross could interview Zaha. Oh look, she did! 11 years ago.
That was quite the interview.
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