On Thursday, futurist architect Zaha Hadid died at the age of 65. Hadid was widely considered the most famous female architect in the world for her gravity-defying, topsy-turvy (oftentimes surreal) architecture — from a cliff- hanging museum in Italy to the London Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympics in the U.K. Her designs were undoubtedly ahead of our time. She twice won UK’s most prestigious architecture award, the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. Her recognition sounded throughout the art world and in fashion, influencing designers like Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld, who once called her the “Coco Chanel of today.” The duo worked together on a large-scale installation for the 50th anniversary of the Chanel handbag.
