Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has paid tribute to Zaha Hadid, who died suddenly yesterday, just months after the pair were at loggerheads over the controversial Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium design.
"Dame Zaha Hadid was a great architect who led the world of contemporary architecture after the era of Postmodernism," Kuma told Dezeen today. "She used the latest computer technology to the full and pioneered new formations of architecture."
"To surpass her achievement is the challenge left to the next generation of architects following her ? myself included."
Kuma was part of a group of Japanese architects, including Fumihiko Maki, Toyo Ito, Sou Fujimoto and Riken Yamamoto, who protested against Hadid's Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium project.
Related story: Daniel Libeskind and Richard Rogers lead tributes to Zaha Hadid

British architect Richard Rogers, who defended Hadid's Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium design, told The Guardian newspaper that the news of her death was "really, really terrible".
"Among architects emerging in the last few decades, no one had any more impact than she did. She fought her way through as a woman," he said. "I got involved with her first in Cardiff when the government threw her off the project in the most disgraceful way. She has had to fight every inch of the way. It is a great loss."
Kuma was part of a group of Japanese architects who protested against Hadid's Tokyo 2020 Olymp...