Award-Winning Architect Zaha Hadid Cuts Short BBC Interview

Riba praised Iraqi-born Dame Saha Hadid for her contribution to the 2012 London Olympics, with president Jane Duncan telling the BBC Hadid is a “formidable and globally-influential force in architecture”. This morning (Sept. 24), those allegations led to a disastrous interview on British radio; Hadid, who vehemently refuted any wrongdoing on her company’s side, hung up the phone during the broadcast, clearly frustrated.

“I am very proud to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal, in particular to be the first woman to receive the honour in her own right”, she said in a statement.

Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Gold Medal is approved by the Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture”.

Montague: So you can categorically state there have been no deaths in the building of your…

Zaha Hadid: There haven’t been any problems, actually, I have to put you right. “There hasn’t been a single problem in our stadium in Qatar”.

When the presenter quoted a disputed report claiming that “more than 1,200 migrant workers have died there”, the architect said she should “check her information”.

Hadid: Absolutely not true. Again, this is a very serious story and it should be reported accurately’.

Hadid: No. It’s absolutely untrue.

So you can categorically state there have been no deaths in the building of your… “There’s no deaths on our site whatsoever”. It juxtaposed those figures against worker deaths in the run up to other major sporting tournaments, including the London and Sochi Olympics and the Brazil World Cup in a graphic that went viral.

She called it a “scandal” and said she only pulled out because there was no contractor for the project.

Montague added it was “fascinating to clear that up”.

The interviewer then went on to discuss the Olympic stadium in Tokyo, which was scrapped earlier this year – five years before the Games – after the Japanese prime minister suggested that it was too expensive.

According to The Guardian Hadid said: “I have nothing to do with the workers”.

Following this segment of questioning, Montague turned to the architect’s battle to win back the Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium project.

When Montague asked about the “soaring costs” of the stadium, she responded: “Let’s stop this conversation right now”.

Montague then pointed out that Hadid’s citation described her as “a scary character in the style of John McEnroe”. Both have impressive resumes, for sure, and as many others have noted before, Hadid has often been the subject of unfair criticism compared to many of her peers.

Hadid is the first woman to be sole recipient of the 167-year-old accolade.