Hadid has received numerous awards for her work, though none as impressive as the 2004 Pritzker Architecture Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. Making it even more meaningful was that Hadid was the first woman in history to ever receive the coveted accolade. “Winning the Pritzker Prize represented the full recognition of what started 20 years ago as my projections of a possible future architect. I think it’s important to keep focused to achieve in any profession—and as a woman, you need the confidence that you can carry on and take new steps every time,” she says of the accomplishment. “You now see more established, respected female architects all the time. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes the difficulties are incomprehensible. But in the past 15 years, there has been tremendous change, and now it is seen as normal to have women in this profession.”
In conjunction with the exhibit here in Philadelphia, Hadid will be honored in November with the Collab Design Excellence Award, given annually by a group of industry professionals supporting the modern and contemporary design collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Past winners of the award include Florence Knoll Bassett, Denise Scott Brown, Alberto Alessi, Frank O. Gehry, and Philippe Starck. When asked about this honor, Hadid bestowed upon it a broader meaning. “Of course it is an honor, but what I find most exciting is that people outside the industry now know a great deal about architects and architecture,” she says. “Twenty-five years ago, they did not. It is quite a change in such a relatively short period, and I am pleased to have been part of this.” Perelman Building at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fairmount and Pennsylvania Avenues, 215-763-8100; philamuseum.org
