Building Zaha

October 15, 2020
Curious as a child, exploring mosques and palaces in Baghdad and wanting to create and construct the impossible, Zaha Hadid grew up to influence the field of architecture. In Tentler-Krylov's telling, young Hadid's interests in construction sites and math grow as she ages, leading to her getting a math degree in college and moving to London, where she studies architecture. She spends hours studying and sketching. Although she makes a name for herself in England, the ever unconventional Hadid is not hired to design buildings, so she enters competitions. After some difficulty, one of her innovative designs becomes reality. Even when faced with obstacles and rejection, Hadid continues to defy form. Hadid dares to challenge the critics and meets negative feedback with determination and confidence, ultimately becoming the first woman to design an art museum in the United States and the youngest ever to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize. Tentler-Krylov's brushy watercolor illustrations create movement on the page, highlighting Hadid's unique tilting, swaying, and floating structures. Short paragraphs advance the narrative spread by spread, describing how her subject's passion became her career. An architect herself, the author/illustrator provides an enthusiastic note explaining her interest in Hadid along with a timeline and a bibliography; quoted dialogue is unsourced, and a small note on the copyright page emphasizes that the book is historical fiction and not strict biography. An inspiring story based on a dazzlingly influential life. (Picture book. 5-10)

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December 1, 2020
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* This picture-book biography of Zaha Hadid opens with scenes of the architect as a child, visiting local Baghdad's mosques and palaces as well as the Sumerian wetlands, where people built floating homes amid the flowing waterways and rippling grasses. A bright student who was fascinated by construction, Hadid became a hard-working, imaginative architect in an era when few women entered the profession. She pursued her own path, guided by the dual goals of creating harmony between people and their surroundings and suggesting a sense of continuous movement and change. Despite the experience of sometimes having her designs chosen in competitions but later abandoned, she gradually gained a recognition for creating innovative, dynamic buildings, and in 2004, she won the Pritzker Prize. As an architect, Tentler-Krylov brings an abundance of understanding to her subject's profession and the obstacles she faced. And by helping readers imagine the challenges of designing a building, she enables them to appreciate Hadid's process and achievements. Text and art work well together in portraying her forceful, flamboyant personality, her strong determination, and her brilliant architectural designs. With fluid lines and vibrant watercolor washes, the well-composed double-page scenes vividly illustrate Hadid's life and work. A memorable introduction to a visionary architect.

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