14/03/2016
A MIGHTY GIRL
The Royal Institute of British Architects has just awarded its most prestigious honor, the Royal Gold Medal, to an individual woman for the first time in the 168-year history of the award! Zaha Hadid, the architect behind such incredible spaces as the London 2012 Aquatics Center and the MAXXI Museum in Rome, accepted the award in a ceremony in London this month. The Iraqi-born architect says she is proud of her achievement and hopes that it inspires other women in architecture. “We now see more established female architects all the time. That doesn’t mean it’s easy,” she says. “Sometimes the challenges are immense. There has been tremendous change over recent years and we will continue this progress.”
Hadid grew up in Baghdad during the 1950s, when modernism -- including modern architecture -- was a sign of glamour and progressive thinking. After completing a mathematics degree at the American University of Beirut, she went on to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in England, where she would eventually establish her own architecture practice, Zaha Hadid Architects, which now employs over 350 people and manages many high-profile international projects. In 2004, she also became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Hadid’s medal was presented by the current president of RIBA, Jane Duncan, who praised Hadid’s work but also addressed the challenges women face in architecture: “Speaking as only the third woman president of the RIBA I find it amazing that it has taken until 2016 to elect the first female Royal Gold Medalist,” she said. “I am not here to castigate my predecessors and their committees for their masculine choices – what else could they do given how hard we make it for women to rise to the top of our profession?” The prize had once been awarded to a husband/wife duo, architects Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, but Hadid's award marks the first time that a woman has ever won the Royal Gold Medal in her own right.
At her Royal Gold Medal lecture the night before the presentation, Hadid spoke frankly about her desire to push how architects see their profession. “Architecture must contribute to society's progress and ultimately to our individual and collective well-being,” she said. “I have always believed in progress and in creativity's role in progress. That's why I remain critical of any traditionalism.” She also hopes that her example will inspire other women; as she told The Telegraph, “Women are always told, 'You're not going to make it, it’s too difficult, you can't do that, don't enter this competition, you'll never win it.' They need confidence in themselves and people around them to help them to get on.”
You can read more about Zaha Hadid’s remarkable career in De Zeen Magazine at bit.ly/1ocq1ws
To encourage your own Mighty Girl's interest in building and architecture, we recommend girl-empowering building toys and kits in our blog post, "Building Her Dreams: Building and Engineering Toys for Mighty Girls," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10430
For a fascinating book about 22 trailblazing female architects, we highly recommend "Women Of Steel And Stone" for teens and adults alike, ages 12 and up, at http://www.amightygirl.com/women-of-steel-and-stone
And, to introduce children and teens to many girls and women throughout history who have broken through gender barriers, visit our "Role Models" biography section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography
