"Zaha Hadid is the most prominent contemporary female architect in the world. Hadid is the only woman architect who has won the most prestigious award in architecture, the Pritzker Prize. But beyond the usual sketching and rendering involved in the architectural process, Hadid has a unique practice of painting as a means of exploration and conceptualization of space. While her buildings are highly regarded for the way in which she challenges the norms in architecture and its use of space, her paintings are often considered equally unusual and impressive." from http://sites.google.com/site/allenhadid/