Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid has designed some of the most striking buildings of this century. She has become a brand in the world of the architecture industry. Born in Baghdad, Hadid finished her Bachelor’s degree in math from Beirut, Lebanon. Then she went to London and studied Architecture there. She established her own firm there.

Most of Hadid’s early designs were never built because they were considered unrealistic. She was called a paper architect because her designs were not suitable to pass beyond the sketch phase and actually be built. But eventually, she managed to become a global superstar architect. She has designed many mesmerizing architectures around the globe. Her firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, has worked on 950 projects in 44 countries. Some of them are the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan; Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan; Nanjing International Youth Cultural Center, Jiangsu; Capitol Hill Residence, near Moscow; Ordrupgaard Museum, north of Copenhagen, Denmark; Galaxy Soho, Beijing, China, and many more.

Zaha Hadid died in 2016 from a sudden heart attack and left her legacy behind. She faced many challenges at the beginning of her journey as a female architect who was also a foreigner in London, and it was also difficult because of her unusual designs. Her designs were hard to sell. But in the end, she managed to sell them so well that she became a legend in the architecture world, a role model for young architects.

Jeanne Gang

Jeanne’s dream to become an architect was since childhood. Gang grew up in an urban area complementing nature. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois. She earned her Masters of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and earned a scholarship to study in ETH Zurich. As soon as she became an architect, she recognized the problem of the growing urban area’s impact on society and nature. Nature and community, these two, have driven her vision for architecture. Her passion has been to blend cities and landscapes. As cities become more populated, they start to destroy landscapes and biodiversity. The vertically rising buildings create less social interaction, which is a threat to society. Gang wanted to address these two problems in her design: ensuring social and natural equity in urban areas. Jeanne’s Aqua Tower was the tallest woman-built building at the time when it was constructed. St. Regis Chicago, The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, the MIRA Tower, The Rescue Company 2, Eleanor Boathouse at Park 571, are some of Studio Gang’s works.

Norma Merrick Sklarek

Norma Merrick Sklarek was the first African American woman to become a licensed architect in America. She was born in New York in 1926, the first black woman to graduate from Columbia University School of Architecture. Sklarek used her position to help minorities and the underprivileged. Sklarek was rejected by 19 architectural firms and finally got hired in the Department of Public Works in New York as a junior draftsperson. Though always celebrated as the first black female licensed architect, she was often unrecognized for her work as an architect.

Lina Bo Bardi

Lina Bo Bardi was born in Italy in 1914. She graduated from the Rome College of Architecture. Bardi found post-war Italy difficult to live in, so she moved to Brazil in October 1946 with her husband. She did most of her work there. Gradually, Bardi became a part of Brazilian culture and later became a Brazilian citizen. But her architectural visions were shaped during her time in Italy. She experienced the necessity of human reflection with oneself and connecting with each other. Bardi was not just an architect; she was an intellectual, a communist, a modern architect. Her designs were revolutionary at that time. She designed a home for herself, The Glass House, a house with an exterior glass wall. She said she wanted an intense connection with nature in her home. She designed buildings where humans would engage and communicate. Some of her notable works are The São Paulo Museum of Art, Solar do Unhão, Centro de Lazer Fábrica da Pompéia.

Maya Lin

Maya Lin was born in 1959 to Chinese immigrant parents in Ohio, USA. Lin was very introverted as a child and stayed home mostly studying. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and then finished her Masters in Architecture. Lin was an environmental activist during her time at university. She was concerned about the environment from an early age. Lin’s concentration on the environment shaped her vision for architectural practice. She never tried to dominate nature with her designs but rather always respected the natural environment and sought balance. Some of her works are the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama (1989), and the Wave Field outdoor installation at the University of Michigan. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded Maya Lin the National Medal of Arts. In 2016, the president recognized Maya Lin’s achievements with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedo