Helene Binet
The only government building Hadid built, this structure serves as the Antwerp Port Authority's head office. A nearby square was renamed Zaha Hadidplein in honor of the late architect.
Hufton+Crow
A modern Beijing landmark, Galaxy SOHO offers another example of Hadid's signature curves. They flow down from the building's four towers to a subterranean courtyard that was inspired by traditional Chinese architecture.
Hufton+Crow
One of the most recognizable buildings in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, the Heydar Aliyev Center is typical of Hadid's flowing architectural style.
Hufton+Crow
Featuring an 1000-seat auditorium, a museum and a number of other cultural facilities, the structure was shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival's World Building of the Year award in 2013.
Hufton+Crow
Named after former president, Heydar Aliyev, the building was the source of significant controversy for Hadid, due to criticisms of Azerbaijan's human rights record.
Luke Hayes
Completed the year before Hadid's death, The Investcorp Building forms part of St Antony's College at the University of Oxford. Part-funded by Hadid's brother, Foulath Hadid, the facility is dedicated to Middle Eastern studies.
Hufton+Crow
After launching a design competition, The American University of Beirut chose Zaha Hadid's proposal for its new Issam Fares Institute building. Completed in 2014, the facility features a 100-seat auditorium and a group of smaller rooms that appear to "float" above the main exterior courtyard.
Doublespace
Built for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, this 15-story tower can accommodate 1,800 students and staff.
ZHA
Despite its name, the 1000 Museum in Miami is actually a 66-story residential complex due to open next year. The building features a curved concrete exoskeleton and large glass panels designed to glisten in the Florida sun.
Hufton+Crow
Part of a huge regeneration project in Marseille, the structure comprises both a 482-foot tower and an adjoining annex. Completed in 2011, this was Zaha Hadid Architects' first built tower.
Hufton+Crow
Completed in 2014, d'Leedon is a sprawling complex consisting of seven residential towers and 12 semi-detached villas.
Hufton+Crow
More angular than many of Hadid's creations, the Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum is a contemporary art gallery at Michigan State University. The building's eye-catching facade is made from pleated stainless steel and glass.
Hufton+Crow
The building's 2,000 triangular glass panels nod to Antwerp's history as a diamond trading city.
Helene Binet
Hadid insisted on retaining the site's original building, a disused fire station.
Hufton+Crow
One of Hadid's best-known buildings, the London Aquatics Centre was created for the 2012 Olympic Games, and has since been modified for public use. Its undulating form was inspired by the movement of water.
Hufton+Crow
Completed in 2015, the Dominion Office Building can be found in Moscow's Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street. Signature curves soften the edges of the building's vertically stacked layers.
Hufton+Crow
A central atrium rises through the center of the building, with interconnected staircases joining the indoor balconies. Natural light floods in from the glass roof.
Image Publishing
Through a series of drawings and photographs, the new book "Zaha Hadid Architects: Redefining Architecture and Design," highlights some of the Iraqi-British architect's most memorable creations.

Story highlights

Zaha Hadid passed away in 2016

The Iraqi-British star has inspired man young architects

Hadid redefined her profession's stereotypes

CNN  — 

Pioneering architect Zaha Hadid passed away two years ago this month. She was aged 65.

The first woman to win prestigious awards, such as the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, Hadid’s genius lives on in the array of spectacular buildings she left behind – from the majestic swooping roof of the London Aquatics Center to the hypnotic futuristic design of Beijing’s Galaxy Soho.

Yet the legacy of the “Queen of the Curve,” as she was known, runs much deeper than the awards she accumulated and structures she created over her 40-year career.

courtesy brigitte lacombe
Iraqi architect, Zaha Hadid.

As a woman, born in Iraq in 1950, Hadid consistently pushed boundaries, both social and artistic, to reach the peak of her profession. In the process, she encouraged a new generation of female architects to dream big.

CNN spoke to some of those who knew Hadid best, as well a group of young architects across the Middle East to ask why her legacy remains so special and how it has helped reshape their own ambitions.

07:58 - Source: CNN
Female architects on rise in Middle East

Tariq Khayyat – head of the Middle East region for Zaha Hadid Architects

“She’s the Queen of the Curve, she’s the Queen of the Straight Line, she’s the Queen of Everything. She is the Queen of Architecture. Her ethos and methodologies of architecture are still inspiring generations to come.

“I think Zaha wanted her legacy to be beyond buildings, beyond concrete and steel. Zaha’s mission, and I think dream, in this life was to give us a message: think big and think beyond the present and have your foot on the ground, but your eyes always for the future.”

Christian Richters/RIBA
The Vitra Fire Station, Zaha Hadid's first independently realized building, was completed in 1993.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
This cancer care center on the grounds of Victoria Hospital was Hadid's first UK building.
Hufton + Crow
Hadid's Riverside Museum took home the European Museum of the Year Award in 2013.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
With her fluid design, Hadid hoped to move away from the rigidity that defined Azerbaijan when it was part of the USSR.
View Pictures/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty Images
The distinctive curves of the Sheikh Zayed Bridge are meant to recall desert sand dunes.
Werner Huthmacher
This interactive science center that resembles a space ship was a landmark project for the country.
Bloomberg/Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A year after completing the BMW Central Building, Hadid won the prestigious Prikzter Prize, making her the first woman to do so.
Inexhibit
Sitting atop Mount Kronplatz, the mountain museum was a collaboration between Hadid and Reinhold Messner, the first man to complete the ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.
PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images
A hybrid of pedestrian footbridge and exhibition pavilion. Hadid's fluid design mirrored the theme of the Expo that year; water and sustainable development.
Hufton + Crow, courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects
Hadid's curvy London Aquatics Centre was the highlight of the 2012 Olympic Park.
zhang zhenghua/Moment Editorial/Getty Images
Hadid likened her Guangzhou Opera House in China to two rocks washed up from the Pearl River and deposited on its bank.
CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images
The 290,000-square-foot structure became Italy's first national public museum of contemporary art when it opened in 2010.
Mike Simons/Getty Images
The Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, which opened in 2003, was Hadid's first building in America.
ALEXANDER KLEIN/AFP/Getty Images
Along with the ramp itself, the Austrian ski jump includes a cafe and viewing terrace.

Nada Taryam – director of civil and architectural projects at Bee’ah

“Zaha definitely opened the doors for young, female architects in the Middle East. She was struggling with getting projects built, and then finally she made it out there and became one of the most famous architects around the world.

“It’s a very inspiring story for all of us and makes us believe that we should push and work hard to prove ourselves.”

Bee’ah is an environmental management company based in the United Arab Emirates.

05:41 - Source: CNN
How one woman pushed an industry forward

Nesmah Mansoor – Yemeni architecture student based in Aden

“We (have) had war, electricity blackouts. Thousands of students (have) never studied under regular circumstances.

“Zaha gave me hope because (she) did not get anything easy. Zaha went through hardships. Zaha went through the process where everyone was underestimating her for being a woman, for being Arab.

“I’m living in a country where women are always underestimated. When I am always asked: ‘Why did you major in engineering? It’s a man’s major.’ I feel related (to Zaha) because I feel we are somehow going through the same process of pain and underestimation. Zaha did not give up and she became the person she was. She inspires me to never give up and always have hope.”

Nesmah Mansoor, Yemeni architecture student inspired by Zaha Hadid.

Eva Jiricna – Czech-born architect and friend of Zaha Hadid

“Zaha hated the term ‘female architect,’ and to be called the ‘best female architect.’ She just thought it was extraordinary … and she was right.

“She totally believed that female students were very often better than male students and she did not hesitate to say so. She definitely offered working opportunities to more women than anybody else of a practice of her size.”

09:35 - Source: CNN
How Zaha Hadid reshaped architecture

Riyad Joucka – Jordanian-Canadian architect

“I think that she is a role model and she will continue to be a role model for female architects in the world (as well as) male architects.

“I had been very motivated to pursue innovative architecture because Zaha’s work showcased that anything is possible.

“I always look back at how Zaha’s career was in its early stages and that gives me absolute hope, and her legacy lives on to give me the light of hope.”

Joucka is founder of the Middle East Architecture Network and Laboratory.