The IBBC is deeply saddened by the death of Zaha Hadid, who died in Miami on 31st March 2016

Dame Zaha was widely regarded as one of the greatest architects in the world. Her buildings re in every continent and her influential designs will inspire generations to come.

Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid was the daughter of Mohammed Hadid, an important industrialist and politician. Partly trained in London, in 1979 she established her own practice there, Zaha Hadid Architects, and became famous for her new interpretations of how buildings can be in the modern age, with commissions in China (including the Guangzhou Opera House), Germany, Italy (the National Museum of Twenty-first Century Arts in Rome), the United Kingdom (the London Olympic Aquatic Centre) and the U.S.A. among them.

In 2004 Zaha Hadid became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She twice won the Stirling Prize, recognised as being the main British award for new buildings, and she most recently received, earlier this year, the RIBA’s Gold Medal, the first woman to be so honoured. She has undoubtedly been a role model for many professional women, especially in the arts. As an Iraqi she brought great distinction both to the country of her birth and to the U.K., where she chose to live and base her work.

The IBBC offers its most profound condolences to Zaha Hadid Architects, members since 2014, for the loss of one of the most creative minds of this age.