Zaha Hadid: the World loses it's most Futuristic Architect

Zaha Hadid died yesterday at 65 - she was one of the most influential and disruptive architects of our generation - a fellow alumni of my school the AA in London and whose work we always followed for its sheer whimsical futurism and style, was known to be quite a character - a doggedly independent chain-smoking, excessively caffeinated, strapping fighter for her work, demanding boss, tough tutor at the AA and crude, harsh and yet undoubtedly truthful in her critiques - she was indeed a force of nature. You either loved her or hated her but you could not ignore her. The world needs people like her to remind us to go after what we believe in no matter what - eventually it can pay off as you will not be forgotten by the history of our age and for being an influencer in the zeitgeist. See her amazing built works here in this excellent NYTimes article.