Join the Zaha Hadid Foundation celebrations of the late architect's legacy on her birthday

When Zaha Hadid died, back on a spring day in 2016, the architecture world froze in shock. It was unexpected – the legendary Iraq-born British architect was only 65 and was in Miami when she passed following a short illness. It took the industry a while to digest the news, and her absence was felt for years; which is why now, a decade later and in the year that would have marked her 76th birthday, it feels fitting and indeed necessary to celebrate Zaha Hadid's enduring legacy and incomparable impact.

Celebrating with the Zaha Hadid Foundation

Marking the occasion, the Zaha Hadid Foundation, which the architect set up in 2013, is announcing an exciting new chapter in its life with the reopening of a newly refurbished building at 10 Bowling Green Lane (the original Hadid office headquarters) in London's Clerkenwell this week, and a series of events and shows that aim to showcase the breadth and visionary and lasting nature of the architect's work.

The new Zaha Hadid Foundation hub

The handsome old brick Victorian school building on 10 Bowling Green Lane is part of Hadid's story, housing her office for 30 years (ZHA relocated in 2021 to another location, not too far away), and has been intrinsically connected to her memory. It is now part of the Zaha Hadid Foundation and has just been refurbished by London-based Studio KA to become a hub of architectural showcases and debate for the local and global community.

The space, which soft-launched with a preview today (29 October 2026) ahead of the public opening on 3 November 2026, includes galleries, a learning space, a lecture hall and a collection display. More spaces reserved for the foundation's use will become a hub for exhibitions, talks, workshops and even creative residencies in the future.

Meanwhile, the building will remain the home of Zaha Hadid Design, and will naturally feature furniture and objects designed by Zaha and her studio. Surfaces throughout have been updated, while original features such as a fireplace and doorways have been restored.

The three opening showcases span the architect's work and reveal its breadth. The first, 'Zaha Hadid: Architecture of Performance', is the foundation’s first collection-based exhibition dedicated to stage and set designs and is curated by Catherine Howe, with Libby Sellers as guest curator.

The second event is titled 'The Rebar Beneath', and it's a special commission by artist LionHeart. Inspired by the archive, it brings together film, poetry, performance and spatial installation. Thirdly is another special commission, by Pulitzer Prize-winning illustrator Mona Chalabi. 'The Completely Exhausting Inexhaustibility of Zaha Hadid' offers a 'playful approach to data visualisation' by creating a timeline of the architect's influence.

The symposium: ‘89° of Zaha Hadid’

A two-day symposium, ‘89° of Zaha Hadid’, on 30 and 31 October 2026 (the latter being Zaha’s birthday) will bring another dimension to this moment's celebration. Organised by the Zaha Hadid Foundation, the Architectural Association and the Serpentine, the event will take place across all three partner venues, spreading across London for all to enjoy.

A star-studded list of speakers – some 40 in total – includes architectural photographer Hélène Binet, architects Nigel Coates, Sir Peter Cook and Rem Koolhaas, Vitra’s chairman emeritus Rolf Fehlbaum, Walbrook owner and chair Hayat Palumbo, and artist and OMA co-founder Madelon Vriesendorp. Topics range from Hadid's early life in Baghdad and her studies to her professional career, influence, body of work and vision for the future.

The Zaha Hadid Foundation's director, Aric Chen, told us about Hadid's forward-thinking attitude when we toured the archives for our October 2026 issue: ‘Zaha was immersed in the present – she didn't think she was futuristic. She was about invention and imagination, re-envisioning spatiality and the ways we live and operate in the here and now.'

A fresh identity

London-based agency Made by ON worked on a complete refresh of the Zaha Hadid Foundation's new website design. This is perfectly complemented by a new visual identity crafted by Amsterdam-based studio Experimental Jetset. It was born from the development of a dynamic system, or 'visual language,' as the studio puts it.

Inspired by Hadid's knack for experimentation and pioneering, uncompromising attitude, the foundation's fresh look is not logo-based, as is often the way. Instead, it centres its new identity on a 'flexible typographic system, perpetually mutated by a distorting grid, that evolves and transforms across the foundation’s programmes and communications,' the ZHF explains.

It is perfectly fitting to the late architect's life work and overall approach to architecture. 'It was Zaha’s wish for the foundation to preserve her legacy while carrying her ideas forward: advancing education, supporting future generations and contributing to the wider field of architecture,' says Rana Hadid, chair of the trustees of the Zaha Hadid Foundation.

'At the heart of that mission is her extraordinary archive, a profound record of her work, imagination and intellectual life. This next step will allow us to safeguard that archive, open it to wider audiences, and create new opportunities for learning, scholarship and creative discovery, ensuring that Zaha’s ideas continue to inspire generations to come.'

The Zaha Hadid Foundation exhibition space at the former headquarters on 10 Bowling Green Lane opens to the public on 3 November 2026

The symposium '89° of Zaha Hadid' runs on 30 and 31 October, presented in partnership with the Serpentine and the Architectural Association

zhfoundation.com