ARCHITECTS Dame Zaha Hadid
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9 January 2013
She was born in Iraq and has made no secret of her desire to design the country’s new $1 billion parliament complex in Baghdad. But the flamboyant and outspoken Zaha Hadid has lost out to another London firm.
The competition, which carried a first prize of $250,000, was launched in late 2011. It attracted the interest of more than 100 firms, but, as Building Design magazine reports, has been shrouded in secrecy by the Iraqi authorities in order to prevent possible corruption.
The winner is Assemblage, a 10-year-old London practice which specialises in urban projects, with Canadian firm Adamson Associates, executive architects on the Shard.
