Dezeen's top 10 Zaha Hadid stories of all time
Zaha Hadid 1950-2016: with the design world still reeling from the shock of Zaha Hadid's unexpected death last week, here's a look back at 10 projects by the Iraqi-born British architect that have been most popular with Dezeen readers. There are a few surprises...
1. Concept villas for golf and spa resort, Dubrovnik, Croatia
The most-viewed Zaha Hadid story ever to feature on Dezeen is one that hasn't been built. It features prototype designs for a pair of villas at a hotel resort in Croatia – one with a sharp faceted form reminiscent of a rock, and the other with a smooth shell-like body.
The designs were intended to set the tone for the rest of the resort, although neither one has been realised. Read more about the concept villas »
2. Guangzhou Opera House, China
One of Hadid's most important buildings, the Guangzhou Opera House features a "twin-boulder design", designed to look like a pair of huge pebbles on the bank of the Pearl River in China's Guangdong Province.
The building features a 1,800-seat concert hall, which is lined with glass-fibre reinforced panels to create a free-form surface. There is also a smaller auditorium for intimate performances. Read more about the Guangzhou Opera House »
3. Chengdu Contemporary Art Centre, China
The so-called "queen of the curve" planned several large cultural complexes, ranging from the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul to the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku. But it was this one for Chengdu, China, that proved most popular with readers.
Covered in criss-crossing louvres to provide shade from the sun, it is designed to include three auditoria, an art museum and a conference centre. Read more about the Chengdu Contemporary Art Centre »
The curved concrete diving boards inside Hadid's London Aquatics Centre were as big a star during the 2012 Olympics as the athletes themselves, and readers couldn't wait to see them when the building opened its doors for the first time.
The building also features an undulating wave-like roof, as well as a practice pool topped by a perforated concrete ceiling. Read more about the London Aquatics Centre »
5. Evelyn Grace Academy, London, UK
Zaha Hadid won the Stirling Prize – the UK's most prestigious architecture award – for a second year in a row thanks to this school in south London, which bridges a running track.
The Evelyn Grace Academy is organised into four smaller schools that share outdoor spaces and facilities. It zigzags across its site, with sports fields tucked between it and the roads on both sides. Read more about Evelyn Grace Academy »
6. Port House Antwerp, Belgium
Set to complete this year, the new headquarters for Antwerp Port Authority is a building of two parts. Its lower section is a former fire station, while its top half is a parasitic extension in glass and aluminium.
Supported asymmetrically on three concrete pillars, the 46 metre-high extension will offer extensive views over the city and port. Read more about Port House Antwerp »
Hadid unveiled her designs for the Dubai Opera House back in 2008.
The dune-shaped building was billed as a new cultural centre for the Seven Pearls district of Dubai, but was scrapped in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis.
Read more about Dubai Opera House »
8. Riverside Museum, Glasgow, UK
A zigzagging, zinc-clad roof creates the distinctive profile of the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, completed by Hadid in 2011.
Built beside the River Clyde, the building contains a museum of transport with over 3,000 exhibits, and also features a vivid green interior. Read more about the Riverside Museum »
9. Library and Learning Centre, Vienna, Austria
Hadid won a competition in 2008 to design the library and learning centre for Vienna's University of Economics & Business, and went on to complete the building five years later.
As one of seven buildings that make up the new campus, its most distinctive feature is a large black volume that is perched over the roof and cantilevers out across a public square at the main entrance.
It hit the headlines again in 2015, when a piece of concrete cladding fell off. Read more about the Library and Learning Centre »
The tenth most-viewed story about Zaha Hadid on Dezeen presents her design for a free-flowing retail and business centre at the resort of Jesolo, near Venice.
Called Jesolo Magica, the project was set to include shops, bars, restaurants, offices, a hotel, a congress centre and health centre, but it was shelved in 2014. Read more about Jesolo Magica »