Zaha Hadid died three years ago this Sunday. In this exclusive interview, Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher talks about the impact her passing had on the studio, how it has grown, and its plans for the future.
"We didn't lose a single client," he said. "But Zaha's stardom as a cultural icon was the hardest thing to replace".
In the interview, Schumacher revealed that Zaha Hadid Architects may rebrand itself this year, with a new name that represents its "overall creative direction and ambition".
"I think we will end up with such a name," he said, adding: "That's not finalised."
Schumacher talked about how, as a student, he first met Hadid at a 1988 London symposium where she spoke alongside the great names of the deconstructivist movement, even though at the time she had yet to complete a building. "I thought Zaha was the most brilliant, the most approachable, and the most honest," he said, deciding to join her rather than starting his own studio as he realised he could be part of something historic that he could not achieve on his own.
Schumacher was project architect on Zaha Hadid Architects' first project, the Vitra Fire Station. Photograph by Christian Richters
"She was already a hot star on the scene and had established something that I thought was thrilling," he said. "I wanted to participate in it because she was a kind of great, original genius who had surpassed her teachers...