The departure of Zaha Hadid from the world architectural scene represents an enormous loss.
The College of Architecture at IIT Chicago has had the gift of a long friendship with Zaha Hadid and we mourn her loss and acknowledge her profound contributions. As architecture defines the place of our lives, Zaha’s voice has, and will continue, to define a singular point of view.
As a finalist for our IIT Campus Center, our faculty and students had a rich and interactive relationship with Zaha Hadid personally and again with her office as her collaborators in the Millennium Pavilion in downtown Chicago.
We will miss her overwhelming architectural intelligence and talent, but also human kindness and modesty. Our last conversation with Zaha was in December last year when we talked after her lectures at the Chicago Biennial, that the next lecture should be in Crown Hall. "Okay let's try that," was her answer.
Regretfully that will not happen, for us it is an implausible moment.
Her legacy her work will continue to enrich the discussion of possibilities and the richness of experience.
The legacy of her person will simply be unmatched.
-- Dean Wiel Arets