# Zaha Hadid died today



## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35936768?SThisFB

Figured she deserved a thread.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

Easy Gibson said:


> http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35936768?SThisFB
> 
> Figured she deserved a thread.


Definitely deserved a thread. Great architect. Some years ago I bought a book of her early commissions, houses and smaller public buildings. Really fantastic. As she became a superstar her stuff just got bigger, and no more interesting, IMO.

It shows how quickly it can happen. Bronchitis, heart attack, gone.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

She obviously deserves the recognition, but I'd had a hard time over the years trying to appreciate something that looks like the Flying Nun should be wearing on her head...


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

hdavis said:


> She obviously deserves the recognition, but I'd had a hard time over the years trying to appreciate something that looks like the Flying Nun should be wearing on her head...


That nun's hat is an "organic form", man.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

The Sydney opera house cemented this trend for me. Before that, my exposure was to odd blips of architecture, like the Memorial Wind Tunnel (AKA bus stop structure designed by one or more architects with a graceful dihedral form that accelerated the wind....). Pretty much nobody used it except on still days.


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

I would rather everything looked like the flying nun's hat than the lousy plastic and pink brick atrocities that pass for new construction around my area.
I heard a really good interview with Frank Gehry not long ago. Personal opinions of his work aside, that man has worked his ass off and been blowing minds for the better part of a century now. I knew he was deep, but before listening to that piece I had no idea about his furniture work, and just how many projects he was in on over the course of his career. Quite a body of work.

Back to Zaha, I had completely missed the fact that she was the keynote at my wife's graduation from Pratt.
It was pouring rain, and they had no contingency plan(****ing artists wouldn't know logistics if it bit them in the ass) so my brother in law and I sought refuge under the catering tent and housed free sushi while watching from a distance.
Sorry, Zaha, I'm sure it was a great talk. I stand by my decision.


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## @chrismack (Jun 1, 2016)

Agree with Irishslave - the last thing the world needs is more cookie cutter architecture. 

Zaha was a rare breed with a fascinating story - it's still rare to see Arab women rise to prominence in their fields and Zaha did it decades ago when it was unheard of. RIP


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Easy Gibson said:


> I would rather everything looked like the flying nun's hat than the lousy plastic and pink brick atrocities that pass for new construction around my area.


Good thing it isn't an either or world.

X2 on getting out of the rain.:thumbsup:


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## duburban (Apr 10, 2008)

Im working with an architect that was in her class at Columbia back in the day. At the same time i'm taking an online class from another of her classmates. My boss refers to her as "an absolute gorgen". Its hilarious with his english accent. 

Her organic forms are really less organic and more digital. They are forms that represent the capabilities of the digital modeling programs at the time. You can see how heavily she was into parametric design at the end, as that is the bees knees of whats cool now.


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## Tim812 (Jun 21, 2016)

Sad news - RIP Zaha.


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