by ArchitectureWeek

Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-born British architect, has been chosen as the 2004 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. In announcing the jury's choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, president of The Hyatt Foundation, said, "Although her body of work is relatively small, she has achieved great acclaim and her energy and ideas show even greater promise for the future."

Hadid is the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, which was established in 1979 to honor living architects whose built work demonstrates talent, vision, commitment, and contributions to humanity and to the built environment. Among Hadid's built works are the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003) in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Bergisel Ski Jump (2002) in Innsbruck, Austria, the Vitra Fire Station (1993) and the LFone Landesgartenschau (1999), in Weil am Rhein, Germany, and the Terminus and Car Park (2001) in Strasbourg, France.

She has other projects currently in development in Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, France, and the United States. Pritzker Prize jury chairman, Lord Rothschild, commented, "At the same time as her theoretical and academic work, as a practicing architect Zaha Hadid has been unswerving in her commitment to modernism. Always inventive, she's moved away from existing typology, from high tech, and has shifted the geometry of buildings."   >>>

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The Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio was designed by 2004 Pritzker Prize laureate Zaha Hadid. Photo: Hélène Binet Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi-born British architect, has been chosen as the 2004 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Photo: Steve Double   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.