Zaha Hadid created the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, which has housed the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 2013. In the competition to design the building, her firm described its concept as "a beacon structure symbolizing and driving the development of Hong Kong as a design hub in Asia."

This is Zaha Hadid's spectacular debut: In 1993, she created the Vitra fire station for the furniture manufacturer Vitra, located in Weil am Rhein. The heavy concrete structure appears light and dynamic thanks to its unusual layers of walls. Until then, her architectural plans had been considered impossible to build. Her career as an architect took off after this project.

Could this flowing building symbolize the renewal and modernization of a closed society? Zaha Hadid designed the spectacular Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center built in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Criticized by human rights activists for his dictatorial rule, President Ilham Aliyev wanted to build a monument to his father and predecessor.

To create Reinhold Messner's new museum, Zaha Hadid hollowed out a cliff. There, she designed underground rooms with terraces overhanging the valley which offer spectacular panoramic views. Messner, who is the first person to have climbed the world's 14 mountains over 8,000 meters, said this project gave him "many white hairs" and ironically claimed this was his "15th peak over 8,000."

Concrete, glass, steel, impossible curves, stacked concrete tubes, cubes, and filigree columns: This all makes up the MAXXI, the contemporary art museum in Rome created by Hadid. The building itself feels like a walk-in sculpture. When you enter it, the floor appears to drift away. Each step opens up a new perspective on the architectural space and the city - a unique experience.

The costs to build the art museum MAXXI exploded and it took over 10 years to complete the project, but it was worth the wait. According to "The Guardian," Zaha Hadid's museum is "a masterpiece fit to sit alongside Rome's ancient wonders."

The central square of the Galaxy Soho also looks futuristic: Right angles are replaced by flowing forms and sweeping lines in this office and commercial complex. Designed by Zaha Hadid in 2012, this building in the center of Beijing is made up of four towers connected by walkways and footbridges.

The BMW plant in Leipzig wanted its new central building to radiate openness and transparency. Zaha Hadid's design links the office complex to the production halls. It houses the main entrance to the plant as well as the cafeteria, the laboratories and the workshops. For this concept, Hadid won the German Architecture Prize.

The second construction phase of the new Hamburg river promenade just began in November 2015. Zaha Hadid conceived this new structure too. This meandering promenade will revitalize the riverside of Hamburg by linking the key areas and highlighting the potential of "one of the most exciting sites in this port city," according to the star architect's proposal. It will include, as usual, many curves.

Though reputed for her difficult character, Zaha Hadid is brilliant. She made it to the top of a field dominated by men. She was the first woman to receive the equivalent of the Nobel Prize of architecture, the Pritzker Prize, in 2004, the highly prized Praemium Imperiale in 2009, and the Royal Gold Medal of British Architects in September 2015. Born in Baghdad, Hadid now lives in London.