Zaha Hadid at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening Private Dinner at Setai on December 5, 2006

Miami, FL – December 18, 2012 – It’s no secret that Zaha Hadid is the world’s most influential and gifted female architect to date. Her long list of accomplishments includes becoming the first female and first Muslim to earn the architectural equivalent to the Nobel Prize, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 2004, as well as winning two consecutive Stirling Prizes, being named one of the world’s top 100 most influential women by Forbes magazine, and assuming the role of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012. Just recently, music mogul Pharrell Williams took part in a Design Miami/ sanctioned conversation with the fair’s principal, Craig Robins, where Williams remarked, “sometimes you have to go above and beyond, and Zaha Hadid is above and beyond.”

And we could go on.

With undeniable power and a vision beyond compare for creating structures that are futuristic and evoke thought, Hadid’s genius has reigned over buildings across Tokyo, Paris, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Saudi Arabia and beyond. While Hadid resides mostly in London, the architect has spent a fair share of time on our side of the pond in Miami, where she owns a condo at the W South Beach Hotel and Residences. But Miami has become much more than a second home.

Developers Gregg Covin and Louis Birdman have confirmed that Hadid has been commissioned for her first skyscraper in the western hemisphere in the heart of Downtown Miami. The anticipated structure is to be situated at 1000 Biscayne Boulevard (currently occupied by the BP gas station) and is expected to be completed by 2014. The project will be the single most iconic structure ever to be built in Miami.

Zaha Hadid & Ambra Medda at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening Private Dinner at Setai on December 5, 2006

Nadja Swarovski, Zaha Hadid, & DB Kim at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening at The Paris Theater on December 5, 2006

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Zaha Hadid, DB Kim, & Esteban Cortazar at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening at The Paris Theater on December 5, 2006

DB Kim & Zaha Hadid at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening at The Paris Theater on December 5, 2006

DB Kim & Zaha Hadid at the Swarovski Crystal Palace Opening at The Paris Theater on December 5, 2006

Zaha Hadid at The Webster’s Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Show on April 15, 2010

Zaha Hadid & Cathy Leff at The Webster’s Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Show on April 15, 2010

Zaha Hadid & Laure Heriard at The Webster’s Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Show on April 15, 2010

Susie Wahab, Zaha Hadid, & Laure Heriard at The Webster’s Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Show on April 15, 2010

Zaha Hadid at the Louis Vuitton Art Talk with Vik Muniz on September 7, 2011

Cathy Leff, Zaha Hadid, & Ambra Medda at the Louis Vuitton Art Talk with Vik Muniz on September 7, 2011

Criselda Breene, Zaha Hadid, Iran Issa Khan, Jonathan Breene, Ambra Medda, & Walid Wahab at the Louis Vuitton Art Talk with Vik Muniz on September 7, 2011

Ambra Medda & Zaha Hadid at the Louis Vuitton Art Talk with Vik Muniz on September 7, 2011

Zaha Hadid & Greg Lotus at the Art Basel Cocktail Party at Greg Lotus’ Home on November 28, 2011

Zaha Hadid at the Art Basel Cocktail Party at Greg Lotus’ Home on November 28, 2011

Zaha Hadid & Craig Robins at the Mont Blanc Honors Craig Robins event at The Moore Building on December 1, 2012

Pharrell Williams & Zaha Hadid at the Mont Blanc Honors Craig Robins event at The Moore Building on December 1, 2012

Craig Robins & Zaha Hadid  at the Mont Blanc Honors Craig Robins event at The Moore Building on December 1, 2012

Pharrell Williams, Zaha Hadid, & Craig Robins at the Mont Blanc Honors Craig Robins event at The Moore Building on December 1, 2012